Perth rider Kyle Webster and New Zealand’s Brodie Connolly shone out at Wonthagghi, in Victoria, round one of the 2024 Australian Motocross Championships at the weekend.
The opening round of the Penrite ProMX Championships has set the tone for what should be a cracker season of racing across the Tasman Sea.
Honda Racing has set the tone as the team to beat, as Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Webster claimed a double-moto victory in the premier MX1 class, and Polyflor Honda Racing’s Connolly and Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Noah Ferguson traded race wins and ended up tied on points in the MX2 class.
Webster lived up to the pre-season hype by claiming an emphatic victory and round win (1-1), flanked by CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Jed Beaton (2-2) and defending national champion Dean Ferris (4-3).
When the gate dropped on the first MX1 race of the 2024 season, Webster surged off the line and grabbed an enormous holeshot ahead of Honda’s Wilson Todd and Kawasaki’s Luke Clout. It only took a couple of laps for Beaton to muscle his way up to second, but Webster was able to hold Beaton at bay for the entire race to take the opening moto win.
A full 44 seconds behind Beaton was Todd, who had a reasonably lonely ride in third as he finished five seconds ahead of defending champion Ferris, who only got stronger as the race progressed. Clout finished the opening moto in P5.
In the final MX1 race of the day, Webster was awarded the holeshot, but he was quickly overtaken by Ferris, who tried to build a gap over the chasing field.
Beaton put in a charge to get past both riders and into the lead, but it all came undone in the final stages of the race when a mistake around the rutted circuit saw the Yamaha rider fall into the clutches of Webster.
Webster pounced, passing Beaton and claiming both the moto and round win in the process. Beaton crossed the line two seconds later, while Ferris finished a distant third. Encouraging performances by class rookies Crawford and Todd saw them finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
MX2 CLASS
Bay of Plenty rider Connolly (pictured above) claimed the Pirelli MX2 class overall win courtesy of a 2-1 result from the two races, while Ferguson (1-3) and Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) finished the day on the round podium via 4-2.
Connolly scored the holeshot in the opening MX2 moto and wasted no time stretching out an early lead.
However, Ferguson put in a mammoth charge to close the gap and take the lead midway through the session. Connolly threw everything at him in the final laps, but Ferguson held on to take his first-career moto win in the class.
Teenager Byron Dennis (GASGAS) put in an impressive come-from-behind ride to finish on the podium in his first MX2 race, as he led Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) to the chequered flag.
Honda’s Alex Larwood put a first-turn near miss behind him to come through the field and finish a hard-fought fifth.
Connolly grabbed the moto two holeshot and never looked back as he charged to a comfortable win. The Kiwi quickly established and managed a 12-second lead over the rest of the field, cruising to the overall ahead of Kingsford.
Around the chopped-up Wonthaggi circuit, moto one winner, Ferguson, put on a remarkable charge from the middle of the pack to finish third while another fast-finisher, Jayce Cosford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) crossed the line in P4. Husqvarna’s Rhys Budd finished in fifth position.
Meanwhile, New Plymouth’s Rian King (Honda) finished 17th and 8th in his two MX2 outings, good enough for the young Kiwi to finish 11th overall for the weekend.
The next round is at Horsham on April 7.
Photo courtesy ProMX Championships
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STANDINGS AFTER ROUND ONE:
