Following on from the statement issued by Motorcycling Australia, the completed races of MX2 and MXW will count for championship points while no races were ran in the MX1 and MX3 divisions and the missing moto will be made up at a future round. The one round of racing will constitute a round and the championship will be contested over 15 races now – not the original 16 as planned.
For a bLU cRU video review of the first round: https://youtu.be/BZOJtKnXAAs
MX1
Over 40 riders entered the first round at Wonthaggi in the premier division in an impressive show of support for the ProMX Championship. A qualifying session was held to not only determine the top 40 riders going to the points paying races, but also for the top 10 to progress through to the shoot out for final grid positions. Luke Clout posted the fastest time in the opening session in a morale boosting start for the former champ after coming off a long stint on the side lines due to injury.
Yamaha had four riders inside the top 10, proving how good and popular the all new YZ450F is. CDR Yamaha Monster Energy team riders qualified in second and sixth respectively, Dean Ferris was seventh on board his Brisbane Motorcycles machine while MX1 debutant Levi Rogers chimed in for 10th on his Caloundra Motorcycles YZ450F.
MX2
Controversary surrounded the results in the MX2 class with protests being lodged post event. MA issued a statement informing us that a rider had been disqualified and that several of the positions have now changed. As a result of this disqualification, Yamaha Racing finished with four riders inside the top 10.
Jesse Dobson led the way on his Serco Yamaha with an impressive second place. Dobson is not long off injury but rode well and was at the front of the pack for the entire moto battling for the race win. In sixth place was Yamalube Yamaha’s Alex Larwood who recovered from a poor start to move his way from 22nd place at the end of the first lap through to sixth by race end.
Larwood’s teammate, Jayce Cosford slotted into ninth in a consistent ride, just ahead of Serco Yamaha’s, Rhys Budd in tenth. The only Yamaha supported rider missing from the top 10 was Ryder Kingsford who fell during the race and came home in 21st place.
MX3
The young guns were on the start line for their first race of the season when the event was cancelled and as a result, no races or points were paid out on the day. With a whopping 58 riders entered for the event, qualifying was broken into two groups and the top 20 from each taken into the main races.
GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing’s Jake Cannon posted the fastest lap of the MX3 group, over 1.5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Kayd Kingsford put his YZ250F into eighth place ahead of the trio of Kobe Drew, Seth Burchell and Koby Hantis in positions 11-13.
MXW
Charli Cannon picked up where she left off in 2022 and stormed to victory in the first race of the 2023 season. Cannon won the race by over 40 seconds and that also included a crash with a lapped rider and a damaged front brake. On a track that was tough and challenging, Cannon handled it well and now looks towards the first round of the Women’s MXGP in Italy on March 25.
Second place was Taylor Thompson on her Excite Motorcycles YZ250, while Tahlia Drew came home in sixth place on her YZ250F.
The second round of the ProMX is headed back to Sydney and the Appin circuit. It has been a few years since Appin has held a round and Yamaha riders and teams are exciting to get back on the Appin track. Action starts at 8am on Sunday March 19.
