It was a huge day of racing at Wonthaggi to open the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship and there were a lot of storylines to take away from the weekend. We’ve compiled the direct takes from riders in this first Quotebook feature of the year.

MX1

Image: Foremost Media.

Jed Beaton (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team) – Second:
95 percent of my day was good. It’s been a few years, but I finally felt like I could ride the bike the way I wanted to and race at a speed that I knew I was capable of. My speed was good, the bike worked well, and the team were awesome, it was just that little mistake at the end of race two that cost me the round win. But all that has done has motivate me as I got the feeling and sensation back. I’m able to race the whole moto again and that excites me. I’m disappointed I didn’t get the win and sorry to the CDR Yamaha team for letting them down, but I will be back and can’t wait to go racing again on this bike and with this team

Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team) – Third:
Overall, I’m satisfied with how my day went. Like any rider, you want to win every race you enter but for me, I just needed to be smart at this round, grind out the best result I could and stay in the championship and I have ticked all those boxes today. The boys up front were running a really good pace and deserve their results, so hats off to them, but I just focused on what I could do and raced at a level that I knew was good for me at this track. So, happy with third and we move onto the next round. We haven’t raced at Horsham for a few years now so the track will be neutral for a lot of riders, and we can get stuck into closing the gap on Kyle and Jed. Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for their efforts on the weekend and looking forward to round two in a few weeks.

Kyle Webster (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) – First:
Round one was great, we made some notes on things we need to work on. It will be a tough season.

Wilson Todd (Terrafirma Equipment Sales Honda Racing) – Fourth: 
Overall, I am happy, you can’t make mistakes in this class and expect to be up front. I need to clean up my laps. We will be better in round two.

Nathan Crawford (KTM Racing Team) – Fifth:
It was my first showing back in the MX1 class and I’m pretty stoked that it went really well. Everything I did was very solid. We had a little hiccup in the first moto when I had a crash and had to make a stop in pit-lane, so I was back in 35th on the first lap. I then put on a huge charge to get back to seventh, and that saved the day for me. I ended up P4 in the second moto, including a good battle with the defending champion at the end. It was a strong opening round and I couldn’t be happier with how it went.

Kirk Gibbs (GasGas Racing Team) – Ninth
It was a very tough day for me, but I’m in one piece and it was a fun first weekend with the GasGas Racing Team aside from the end result! I just struggled with the track – I guess a lot of people did – but I know my set-up was actually pretty good. We’ll keep our heads up, trust the process and head to Horsham where I know I’ll do better.

Todd Waters (Raceline Husqvarna Racing) – Seventh:
It was a tough one for me today. I’m struggling with a niggling injury in my neck, so I wanted to come here and get through it. My start to moto one wasn’t great and I had to charge through to finish P6, which wasn’t too bad for me. The last race was not for me and I struggled a lot in that one, both with myself and to gel with the bike. We’ve got some changes to make and I’ve got a lot of hard work to do before the next one. I can’t thank our team Raceline Husqvarna team enough for the countless hours they’ve put in and I owe them some good results, so I’m determined to get back up there.

Luke Clout (Empire Kawasaki) – Sixth:
The day started awesome with P2 in superpole. I was feeling great with the new bike and team, but the track changed so much before our first race that we were caught a little off guard with the settings we had from qualifying. Once that got away from us I never quite found that comfort again from the morning sessions, but there’s a lot of positives to take away and I’m ready for a long championship this season.

MX2

Image: Foremost Media.

Noah Ferguson (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) – Second: 
The whole team has been patient with me and accommodating. I feel very comfortable on the bike. I made the right decision coming here.

Brodie Connolly (Polyflor Honda Racing) – First:
I pumped up in race one and started making some small mistakes. Its good to know we have gone in the right direction with the bike and training during the off-season.

Alex Larwood (Polyflor Honda Racing) – 5-DNF:
This wasn’t the outcome I anticipated for today, especially considering I didn’t have a crash. Now, our focus shifts to recovery, and I can only look ahead.

Jayce Cosford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) – Fourth:
The last time I was here wasn’t great and then even in practice this morning, I just didn’t feel good and knew I had to be better. I didn’t think I rode well in race one, but I kept at it and just kept trying to find a way, so to finish sixth was good, but I thought that I could do better. Race two was better again. I had a great start but ran wide so a few guys got underneath me, but I was able to ride the track better and flow more without any mistakes. Its like I tried less but went faster and that was the best I have ever raced here

Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) – Third:
The last 18 months have been hard with injuries, so it’s so good to get back up on the podium again. I had some clean up surgery to my foot just before Christmas but have been able to get a full preseason in and get some races under my belt and it rewarded me here today. The bike and team were great today. Everything was taken care of we didn’t have an issue and I’m really happy with my bike. Thanks to the Yamalube Yamaha team as everyone works together here and it was a good start to the championship for us.

Kaleb Barham (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) – Eighth:
Sand isn’t my strong point, but it has been something I have been working on, so it was good to see some of that work pay off today. I’m never going to be Jeffrey Herlings in the sand, but today was as good as I have felt, and I was happy that I kept charging all the way to the finish in both races. We go back to some hard pack at Horsham next round so I’m looking forward to that and I also want to shout out to my mechanic Nash who hurt his ankle on Friday but kept soldiering on all weekend and did a great job

Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) – Seventh:
It wasn’t a bad day today and we’re walking away from here safe and healthy. I got a bad start in the first moto and struggled to move my way through the pack, but other than that I rode okay and the bike felt good. In the second moto, I got a half-decent start and pushed my way through to sixth – I would’ve liked to have caught up to fourth place, but I’m happy to come away with good points and with something to build on for Horsham.

Byron Dennis (GasGas Racing Team) – 3-DNF:
It was a pretty good weekend for my first national MX2 race. I had a really good first moto – I got a good start and rode through a few riders and ended up P3. I felt really good on the bike and had a lot of confidence. In the second moto, we had an unfortunate issue on the first lap and caused us to DNF. We’ll sort that out with the boys and come out swinging at Horsham, so I’m super-excited to get going again!

Rhys Budd (Raceline Husqvarna Racing) – Fifth:
oday was a bit up-and-down for me. I went 9-5 moto scores for fifth overall, so I managed to turn it around somewhat in moto two. I rode a bit better and had some smarter lines. The whole day wasn’t amazing for me, but we’ll take a top-five and we’ll move on to round two.

Jack Mather (Raceline Husqvarna Racing) – Sixth:
It was a bit of a mixed day, but it ended up being alright results-wise. I felt I had more to give, but sixth overall is a good base to build off of and I’m looking forward to the future rounds and continuing to improve both the set-up for race day and myself.

Reid Taylor (Empire Kawasaki) – 19th:
I’m disappointed with how round one turned out considering how much speed I had in the opening moto. I haven’t spent much time on motocross settings since returning from India, and that cost us today. I tightened up and lost my flow out there, but we will rebound for round two in a few weeks time.