Image: Foremost Media.

Defending Australian MX1 champion Kyle Webster has largely avoided injury after crashing out and exiting the final moto at Wonthaggi yesterday, salvaging ninth overall courtesy of his victory in the opening encounter.

Webster is wearing the number one plate on his Boost Mobile Honda Racing CRF450RWE in the 2025 Penrite ProMX Championship, but already faces a 22-point deficit to title rival and overall winner Jed Beaton following the first of eight rounds.

While the Western Australian was unable to continue as a result of bike damage, he has since declared that he isn’t injured and was otherwise satisfied with his form displayed at the notorious Victorian venue – the very track where both he and Beaton train together mid-week as part of the Beaton’s Pro Formula program.

“I honestly wasn’t really expecting [the crash], to be honest,” Webster told MotoOnline post-race. “I don’t think I came into it sideways or even felt like I cross-rutted or anything – I think I just must have wheeled it into the roller and caught something in the bottom.

“And it just went from there, just side-to-side, way too big and fast for me to actually be able to catch. And I think at some point I got catapulted off and landed flat on my back on the side of the track, so it just knocked the wind out of me, busted the bike up.

“The bars were pretty much on the tank and one of them was right down. The track’s not… you can’t just go out there and roll around. [I was a] bit banged up, landed flat on my back, knocked the wind out of me and bent the bike up real good, so obviously not how we want that to roll, but there was plenty of positives today.”

The reigning Motocross of Nations (MXoN) winner – a title held alongside Jett and Hunter Lawrence – was quickest on Saturday and won the opening moto of the year, but Monster Energy CDR Yamaha’s Beaton did apply immense pressure over the course of the closing laps.

“I think the first race we got to do was like one of those ones where you’ve gotta shake the rust out after the pre-season, you know,” Webster explained. “It’s sort of the nerves, people, the lappers, just everything.

“It’s like it hits you at once, so yeah, definitely I got caught up with a few lappers there and kind of broke my flow for a little bit. I lost a lot of time, but that’s racing, I guess, managed to hang on.”