Proformance Racing Team press release:

It was a short rest for the Yamaha Proformance Team after the National rd 7 at Conondale, where MX2 rider Kale Makeham and MXD rider Hugh McKay were straight onto Swan Hill for the final round of the Victorian Titles the following weekend.

While a mid season shoulder injury dashed Kale’s National title hopes, the Vic rounds were well timed to not affect his charge towards that state title. Coming into the last round at Swan Hill, Kale was defending a healthy lead, so it was simply about getting a solid finish at the final round to keep his nose in front.

After a measured first few laps in each race at Swan Hill, Kale began to pick up pace and reeled some of the front runners in. Finishing with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the motos, Kale had a solid 2nd overall for the day which allowed him to comfortably take the championship.

Hugh McKay, racing against the MX2 riders made it hard for himself with two average starts. Once settled, he too picked up speed and a few places as the races went on, gaining a best place of 6th in race 3, for 7th overall for the day. Two decent crashes in separate motos meant he had to tough it to the finish with a body that was hurting, but gaining a third overall in the championship saw Hugh a happy lad.

Not enough to win the Vic Mx titles, Kale decided to enter the Hedley round of the AORC the next day. The only problem was that this involved a 6 hour drive straight from Swan Hill to Hedley after he wrapped up the Vic MX Titles, which meant less than 5 hours sleep before race day!

While the sprint format of Sundays AORC suited Kale more than entering a 3 hour enduro, he suffered a major disadvantage by not running the course the day before (as the rest of the field had). His bike set up in pure motocross form, with no concessions whatsoever made for an enduro course, made the job even tougher.

Kale posted times which 3rd and 4th fastest in class in 3 of the 4 tests in the strong E2 field meaning a 6th in class overall. Hypothetically, if he hadn’t lost 40+ seconds in an unfortunate third test under his bike, he would have been battling for 3rd place against some of the fastest enduro racers in Australia.

Kale said he really enjoyed the experience and the relaxed atmosphere of the AORC and may dabble in it again, next time he’d come a little more prepared though. Kale’s focus is still very much on motocross with two National rounds remaining where he is looking to reach the podium, rounding out the year on a high with Team Proformance.