CRF Honda Racing press release:

On a day when Mother Nature played her part in turning on extremely challenging track conditions at the Broadford circuit just north of Melbourne, Victoria, CRF Honda Racing’s new recruit Kyle Webster rose to the occasion to finish second overall on the day with two mighty podium performances in the MX2 category at today’s (May 1) round three of the 2016 Motul MX Nationals championships.

Overnight storms turned the iconic Victorian race track into a quagmire, forcing the cancellation of timed qualifying and leaving riders with limited opportunity to prepare themselves for the extremely slick conditions.

Webster though was ready to rise to the occasion and thanks to a strong start that put him amongst the top six runners on the first lap of the opening MX2 moto,the speedy Sandgroper kept his Honda CRF250R firing and pushed forward to take an eventual second place finish behind Jed Beaton.

Boosted by the big result, Webster was keen for more in moto two, and with the track drying and conditions improving, the CRF Honda Racing rider kept up the strong form to finish third in moto two behind Beaton and Luke Arbon.

With a 2/3 moto scorecard for the day, Webster locked down second overall for the round, splitting Beaton and Arbon, to give the Honda Red Riders their first MX2 podium placing at the MX Nationals in two years.

“I’m really rapt with today,” beamed Webster after the Broadford podium celebrations. “Conditions were really tricky today, so I just want to thank CRF Honda Racing and all our great sponsors and supporters. The change to Honda this year has been a really good one for me and I want to thank everyone that helps get me to the startline, and in particular my mechanic Mick, for his huge commitment.”

Meanwhile second CRF Honda Racing team rider Joel Wightman battled the testing conditions on his CRF250R thumper, finishing 12th in the opening moto and then making some mods to his machine to back up with a 13th place finish in moto two, giving the NSW Hunter Valley rider 13th place overall on the day.

“Overall it was a great day for CRF Honda Racing,” enthused team owner/manager Mark Luksich. “Kyle’s performance was really impressive and it’s great to see him learning more about the strategy involved in putting together two strong races, as this season he’s shown he has the speed to run up the front, and now he has capitalised on it to get two great podium finishes.

“Joel meantime is just chipping away at it, putting in the hard yards and without doubt it won’t be long before it all comes together and he will be delivering the results we all know he is capable of.

“The commitment from everyone involved with the team, and from all our sponsors and supporters, is excellent and CRF Honda Racing looks forward to carrying today’s form into the upcoming rounds of the MX Nationals.”

After three rounds of the MX2 championship, Webster has now climbed to eighth place in the series standings, while Wightman is 14th overall.

CRF Honda Racing will now focus on its next outing, which comes at round four of the Motul MX Nationals at the Murray Bridge track in South Australia on May 22.