In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out in the eighth round of the 2022 Penrite ProMX Championship at Coolum. 

MX1

Image: Foremost Media.

Todd Waters (Husqvarna Racing Team) – Second:
Today was good, my bike was working really well, but I had a few problems physically with myself. I was in a position to win the motos, but didn’t execute in the races… Both Wilson [Todd] and Kyle [Webster] rode really well. But overall, P3 in the championship, we are happy with that after the last two rounds. It was good to get a result here and finish the season strong! Next up, we jump on a plane tomorrow and change our focus to ISDE (International Six Days Enduro), but I’d like to thank the Husqvarna Racing Team for making it the best they could for 2022.

Dean Ferris (Honda Racing) – Fourth: 
It is not exactly how I wanted to go out but it has been a great year. I raced to the most wins and overalls, and finished second. It is time to hand the reigns to a new champion and turn the page on this chapter of my life. I will not be racing full-time but that does not mean I will not race and ride again.

Kyle Webster (Honda Racing) – Third:
I needed this; the team needed to see this. The injury was worse than we first expected and I went in for a second operation after six weeks. To come back and win the final moto of the season feels amazing. I really feel that we have got a great bike and team. The Honda has dominated this season. It is unfortunate that we did not win the MX1 championship and congrats to Aaron [Tanti] but we will be back stronger next year, having learnt from our setbacks.

Wilson Todd (Honda Racing) – First:
It is great to finish the season with an overall win. It has been a terrific year. I have enjoyed working with the team, as well as Honda, and look forward to my future with them.

Hayden Mellross (GasGas Racing Team) – 10th
It was an up and down day, and really an up and down year, to be honest. We didn’t achieve what we set out to do at the start of the year and I’m disappointed in that, but at the end of the day it gives me a fire to be stronger and we are going to put our heads down and work hard to achieve what we want to achieve next year. All things considered, we are happy, we are healthy and thanks to the whole team for supporting me this year and what they have done. Now moving into supercross, I’m really keen to get after it.

Aaron Tanti (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy) – Sixth (champion):
Today certainly wasn’t my best riding and I have been pretty nervous all week to be honest. I have never been in this situation before and this is my first pro title so I was just doing my best to get the job done and make sure I didn’t make any stupid mistakes. It’s not the way you always like to win a championship, but the hard work was done in the earlier rounds and I was able to build a good points gap on Dean and that allowed some margin today that meant it wasn’t all on the line and I could afford to be a little conservative on the track. Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for their support and endless guidance and encouragement of me this year. I came to the team as I thought they would give me the best chance of success and to be able to secure the ProMX championship with them this year is amazing. Allister, Brad, Gary, Troy and Craig do an amazing job and once you are part of CDR, its easy to see why they have won so many championships over the years. I also want to thank my family and girlfriend for their support. They go through the ups and downs of a racer every day and they have sacrificed things in their lives for me to have success and it was awesome to have them all here today. And finally to MA and the organisers of the ProMX championship. This year has been a huge step forward for the championship and we have had eight great rounds. MA have done a good job since taking over the promotion of the national motocross championship and looking forward to it being bigger and better in 2023. But for now, it’s time to enjoy this one and soak it up with the team, family and friends.

Kirk Gibbs (KTM Racing Team) – Fifth:
It was an okay day, I went 5-4 after two good starts this afternoon, but just struggled a little bit with intensity and the lead guys were a little bit faster today. It is was it is, we’ve just got to move on and move forwards and, considering the injuries I’ve had along the way this year, I can finish the season happy.

MX2

Image: Foremost Media.

Rhys Budd (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) -Third:
I had put a lot of pressure on myself this week to make sure I got the job done and it was a huge relieve to lock down second place after race one. I worked hard over the past month to try and improve a few things so to be able to finish the last two rounds on the podium as well as finish second for the championship is a good outcome and one that I’m proud of. My back is cooked after that last race as the track is rough and you are constantly working the bike in the sand. I pushed myself to the end of both races and I really wanted to get past Bailey in the last one, but I just couldn’t make it happen. Thanks to the Yamalube Yamaha Team for everything they do and our team sponsors who give us the opportunity to do what we love. It was also good to have my whole family here to support me and it means a lot to all of us to get a result like this. I might take a week or two off and then start work on supercross as I’m looking forward to racing the Australian Supercross Championship, starting in October,

Jesse Dobson (Serco Yamaha) – DNF:
I’m pretty beat up and sore right now and feel like I let the team down because everyone had worked so hard to get us both on the podium. In the first race, my shoulder popped when was going through the rollers and the pulling motion seemed to make it loose and weak. It’s the same shoulder that I hurt a few weeks ago so I think it’s time to get it looked at and have it repaired. Thanks to everyone at Serco Yamaha for a great ProMX season, I’m just sorry I couldn’t put it on the box for them this weekend.

Bailey Malkiewicz (Serco Yamaha) – Second:
I like riding sand and Coolum has always been a track that I have enjoyed riding so I wanted and expected to go well here this weekend. My results in the past have been good here and I have been able to get some riding done in the past couple of weeks, so I was confident of a good weekend. It’s a shame that Jesse fell and hurt himself as that’s never a good way to beat anybody, so I hope he recovers quickly and we are battling again soon. Teasy did an awesome job on the weekend and the race bike was good. My starts needed to be a little better, especially in moto one where I was in the pack, but my track speed was good and even getting P1 on Saturday was a nice way to start the weekend. Thanks to Serco Yamaha for a great championship and we now look forward to getting set for supercross in the coming weeks.

Levi Rogers (WBR Yamaha) – Eighth:
I like riding this track and it suits the way I ride, so I just needed to not make any stupid mistakes and I knew I would be able to get a good results. I was in good shape in race one and just coming up behind Bailey who was in fourth when I got sideways and went off the track and as I did that, I put my leg out for balance and my knee grabbed and twisted pretty bad. The pain shot through my knee, and I tried to get going again but it hurt too much so I hade to pull in. But, I was able to strap it up and it had settled down a bit so I was good to go for race two and I went on to win it. It’s a great feeling to finally win a moto at ProMX level and the WBR Yamaha guys were so pumped when I got it done. I could see them waving me on around the track and when I came in, they were pumped, so its awesome to give them that reward after such a tough season.The DNF – 1 got me in the top 10 for the day and it was a good way to finish off the championship.

Hugh McKay (WBR Yamaha) – Ninth:
While I wanted to finish the final round a little better, being inside the top 10 in both the round and the championship is a pretty good way to wrap up the championship. Thanks to WBR Yamaha and the team for stepping up and helping me for the final few rounds as its always awesome working with the guys. The bikes are great and there are really good people in the team.

Nathan Crawford (KTM Racing Team) – First:
I only got to come back for three rounds, but they were probably three of the most special rounds that I have had. It’s the biggest honour to work with a team like the KTM Racing Team – everybody in the group is second-to-none. I’m super-stoked at the results we can achieve and I put it down to those guys, sticking by me when I was injured. The first moto here was really good and the second moto I got a good start and led for the first 10 minutes or so. Then I realised it wasn’t anyone around me who was strong in the first moto, so I decided to take the high road and take a little bit less risk. I sort of sat back and let Levi [Rogers] go by and just rode it home for the overall.

Noah Ferguson (GASGAS Racing Team) – Sixth:
It was a tough day in some ways, but it ended really good actually and I’m satisfied with the result. There were a lot of positives, I definitely have got speed, but just need to put everything together and we will be good for next year! As I said, everything is going good on the GASGAS Racing Team and I’ve enjoyed these last couple of weekends together.

Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki) – 13th:
The crash in the first moto cost me fifth overall in the championship. While that’s disappointing, there were lots of positives from my first full season in Australia, with a couple of race podiums and a round podium. There are lots of positives for the future and I’d love to come back again next year for another full season. For now I’m looking forward to the upcoming Australian Supercross Championship.

Jai Constantinou (Empire Kawasaki) – Fifth:
I’m really happy to finish off the year with a top five and, even though I made it tough for myself with a crash and a bad start, it was a great weekend with the team. Seventh in the championship isn’t exactly where we wanted to be, but considering a few of the throw-away motos we had throughout the season, it wasn’t a bad result. I can’t thank everyone in the team enough for their support this year – there were good times all-round.