In near-perfect racing conditions, the 2025 Penrite ProMX Championship got off to an intriguing start at Wonthaggi over the weekend. MotoOnline answers some of the key questions that arose from an action-packed two days of racing in this edition of Q&A.

Q: How much did Kyle Webster’s second-moto DNF boost Jed Beaton’s title chances?

A: It was expected that Monster Energy CDR Yamaha’s Beaton and defending champion Webster of the Boost Mobile Honda Racing team would again be the class of the MX1 field, and they certainly lived up to the hype, trading blows from qualifying and the Pole Shootout, then gapping the field in both motos. Midway through the second race, Webster had a huge crash while chasing his title rival, which left him winded and his bike damaged. In the big scheme of things, the DNF is a major blow to his title defence, mainly because there’s so little separating himself and Beaton. Webster is now 22 points off the series lead – a bigger gap than ever separated the pair last year – and he’s going to have to run up front at every race from here on to try and pare that advantage back. Beaton isn’t going to back down either – he’ll be hell-bent on capitalising on this turn of fortunes and hammering more nails into the coffin over the remaining seven rounds.

Image: Foremost Media.

Q: Did any other MX1 riders show they’re capable of winning races this year?

A: Being eight rounds over five months, momentum swings, niggling injuries and form slumps are almost certainly going to play a role in 2025. KTM Racing Team’s Nathan Crawford always seems to work his way into a championship with his form often improving throughout the season. His second overall at Wonthaggi – particularly his strong second moto – has given him an early injection of hope and a significant platform to work from. The same can be said for his veteran teammate, Kirk Gibbs. Despite it being 10 years since he won the MX1 title, he’s still one of the most consistent racers in the field and finished P3 in the second encounter, after running P2 for a good portion after Webster crashed out. Meanwhile, Monster Energy CDR Yamaha stand-in Maximus Purvis showed decent pace at Wonthaggi as he came from P8 to P3 in the opening moto, and former champion Luke Clout (Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki) found himself on the podium with two P4 results. They’re all in with a chance.

Q: Is anyone capable of stopping Brodie Connolly from dominating MX2?

A: Polyflor Honda Racing’s Connolly came into the opening round as the hot favourite to defend his MX2 title this year, and if Wonthaggi was anything to go by, it’s going to take a herculean effort by his nearest rivals to match him in 2025. The Kiwi has already stated his goal is to go undefeated all year, which is ambitious for sure, but he was in a league of his own for both qualifying and both motos. Even though Connolly’s a regular to the brutal Wonthaggi circuit and had some home-ground advantage, he led every lap of both motos, seemingly doing it easy at the front. Behind him, Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha’s Ryder Kingsford did everything he could to keep himself within striking distance for the first half of both motos and was solid in his own right, but the Honda rider proved too strong at the front. His teammate, Alex Larwood (NFAL Honda Racing) also put in a big effort to stay in touch and will be relatively content to have banked good points with two P3 results.

Image: Foremost Media.

Q: Were there any injury concerns from Wonthaggi?

A: For how brutal the Wonthaggi track gets throughout a race weekend and the number of crashes we saw, there were surprisingly few significant injuries. The biggest question mark is over KTM Racing Team’s new MX2 rider Noah Ferguson, who injured his hand in a moto one crash and then put in a gritty performance in moto two when he fought his way back from another crash early in moto two to finish sixth. Raceline Husqvarna TDUB Racing boss Todd Waters also hurt his hand when he collided with Crawford in the opening moto and went down hard, but we expect both to be fit for Appin.

Q: Whose on-track performances don’t reflect how well they rode?

A: A special mention here has to go to Regan Duffy and Wilson Todd in the MX1 class. Duffy hadn’t raced in almost two years after his muted 2023 comeback from his near-death crash in 2021. He’d spent 2024 working and living a normal life in WA, but has come back more motivated than ever this year with the Raceline Husqvarna TDUB Racing Team. He’d set himself a goal of a top 10 building-block result for Wonthaggi, and he achieved that, finishing with 9-8 results for ninth overall. Wilson Todd (Repco Honda Racing) also returned after a tough 2024 that was punctuated by two big injuries. His torn Lisfranc from September is still a work in progress, and he still has to limit how much his foot flexes. That was no mean feat around a notoriously rough Wonthaggi track, but he still set a fifth-fastest qualifying time, then raced to 5-10 results for an impressive P8 overall.

Image: Foremost Media.

Q: Who were the surprise factors?

A: Queensland-based privateers Levi Rogers and Zach Watson were both impressive in the MX1 class. Rogers (Caloundra Motorcycle Centre Yamaha) earned a spot in the Shootout and clocked the eighth-fastest time – just 0.1s behind Clout and 0.4s ahead of Purvis – then rode to a pair of smart races to finish with an 8-6 scorecard and an inspired sixth overall. Rising Motorsports Triumph-mounted Watson tied on points with Rogers after racing to two consistent 7-7 performances on a track that caught out many. In MX2, Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki’s Ryan Alexanderson – who’s filling in for the injured Cambell Williams – put last year’s European experience to good effect. His seventh overall was helped by a standout ride in the second moto when he came home in fifth. At the other end of the spectrum, Raceline Husqvarna TDUB Racing Team’s Rhys Budd had a surprisingly disappointing opener. An encouraging pre-season and promising off-season results had him tipped to be strong this year, but he struggled with his bike all weekend, so a 10-10 scorecard for 11th overall was well below par.

Q: Can we lock in Ky Woods and Charli Cannon as MX3/MXW favourites?

A: It’s too soon to tell for Woods, particularly given the unpredictable nature of the MX3 class. However, it’s fair to say the speed and form of the Monster Energy WBR Yamaha rider impressed many at Wonthaggi. Woods clocked the fastest qualifying time and was the only rider in the class to break the 1m50s barrier, but a four-position penalty carried over from practice saw him give up pole position to Honda rider Seth Morrow. Woods then put in two classy rides that saw him beat Honda recruits Kayd Kingsford – replacement of Jake Cannon in the title-winning factory organisation – and Jet Alsop in both outings, which puts him in the box seat as the championship heads to Appin in three weeks time. As for Cannon, a fourth MXW title is already looking like a formality. Even when faced with an international field that comprised five of the best racers from the USA, New Zealand and from the African continent, she still decimated the field by 28 seconds in the first race, almost a minute and a half in the second, then 57 seconds in the third and final moto of the weekend. It was sheer dominance from the SCT Logistics Honda Racing rider – she’s absolutely world-class.