Despite a brief debut of the all-new 2025 Honda CRF250R at Queensland Moto Park’s Penrite ProMX Championship finals, Honda Racing insists it was a promising shakedown by recently-crowned MX2 champion Brodie Connolly.

With the title already wrapped up with a round to spare, the Victorian-based squad saw QMP’s finale as an opportunity to roll out the new generation bike for Connolly to debut – alongside the number one plate – despite limited testing and what was a largely stock machine.

A lack of familiarity along with generally limited access to parts and performance components is what typically prompts teams to delay adopting updated models until the series comes to a close, although with Honda Racing having nothing to lose and important data gain, a mid-week switch was decided.

“Our primary focus was definitely on winning all four championships, but we also wanted to gather data, and there’s no better way to evaluate a motorcycle’s performance than by comparing it to other factory teams on the same track under the same conditions,” Yarrive Konsky explained to MotoOnline, team owner of Honda Racing. “That’s why we had Brodie ride the standard 2025 model, equipped with a standard shock and no internal modifications, just an HGS pipe.”

Connolly seamlessly took to the ’25-spec model, topping the practice timesheets in his very first public outing on the bike before putting it on pole position in qualifying, matching the dominance we’ve witnessed from him all season long.

However, come Sunday race day, the New Zealander had seemingly reverted to the ’24 edition, rolling out for both motos aboard the bike that brought him to the MX2 crown.

“The results confirmed what everyone has been saying about the new bike – he was the fastest in both practice and qualifying,” Konsky added. “We decided not to race it because we hadn’t done any substantial testing or practice starts, and we didn’t want to ask Brodie to compete on a bike he wasn’t fully familiar with.

“He was eager to race it, but given his dominance, we didn’t want to risk jeopardising his chances of winning another round. We laughed after the event, though – his starts were terrible, so maybe we should have just raced the 2025!”

Despite the debut being limited to just a pair 15-minute sessions, Konsky believes the experience will prove invaluable as the extended squad transitions to the updated motorcycle for the upcoming Australian Supercross Championship, along with getting a head start on preparations for the next year’s motocross campaign.

“The data we collected will be invaluable as we prepare for supercross. Fortunately, the motor is very similar to what we’re already using, and it’s already proven to be a championship winner. We’ve won the last four motocross championships and three supercross championships with similar setups.”