In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out in the seventh round of the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship at Queensland Moto Park.

MX1

Image: Foremost Media.

Aaron Tanti (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team) – 14th:
A real up-and-down day for me with good speed in qualifying to take P1, then an average first race and I had a great second race going until I come together with a lapped rider. As I picked the bike up, I could see a puddle of coolant on the ground and knew making it to the finish would be tough. I did a couple of slow laps, but the team called me to prevent any further damage to the bike or having it overheat on the track. It was a disappointing end to a challenging day.

Dean Ferris (Brisbane Motorcycles Yamaha) – First:
It took me a bit to get going this morning as I worked to get the bike dialled in, but even though I didn’t get a great lap in superpole, I felt like I had made progress with my settings, and I was good to go for the races. I got off to a great start and took a comfortable victory in the first moto. Race two was a lot more difficult as I made a bonehead move on the first lap and went down while leading. I got up as quick as I could and then just tried to stay calm and get myself back into the race. Fortunately, I was able to make some quick passes, capitalise on some mistakes by the other riders and get to the front with a few laps to spare. So, a great day for me here and good to carry the red plate into the final round this weekend at Coolum.

Jed Beaton (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) – Third:
Struggled a bit today, the track was a little bit weird, like super fast and really harsh bumps. Didn’t really find comfort all day, I tried and tried, changed to a different bike set up but couldn’t seem to get there in the end. Got a bit of arm pump in both races and couldn’t really push how I wanted to. Unfortunately, it’s just a little bit more points lost in the championship but all-in-all, we are still in it and ready to go for the last round.

Kyle Webster (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) – Second:
Finished up here at QMP for the day, ended up second overall. It’s nice to be back on the podium again, that’s for sure, but little bit unfortunate there letting that one slip right at the end in that last moto. But that’s racing sometimes and we will look to eliminate that for next weekend. Really looking forward to heading to Coolum next weekend for the last round and a bit of sand, we’ve ridden heaps of hard pack this year so I’m looking into it and we will see how it goes.

Kirk Gibbs (KTM Racing Team) – Fifth:
Bit of a rough day for me today! I qualified in fourth and then had two fairly average starts for me, which made it really difficult in the motos. Tightened up in the first moto pretty badly, however, second moto we made some great changes and I charged from about eighth into fourth place, and felt really good. So we just need to improve those first motos and we’ll be great.

Regan Duffy (GasGas Racing Team) – DNF
Not a lot to say about my day today, unfortunately. I felt good coming in having switched up my training program, and I felt we’d made good progress, but was just caught up in a bit of a freak incident in the first moto that kept me out for the remainder of the day. Disappointing, but we’ll keep on pushing.

Todd Waters (Raceline Husqvarna Berry Sweet Racing) – DNF:
Honestly, my fitness isn’t there and I’ve been struggling with it all year. I managed to make some good passes up to fifth place, but I cross-rutted and ended up on the ground. It wasn’t that big of a crash, but I’ve broken my collarbone, and unfortunately I won’t be able to line up at my favourite track – Coolum – next weekend. I’m devastated that my season has ended this way, but it’s part of racing.

MX2

Image: Foremost Media.

Nathan Crawford (KTM Racing Team) – First:
Today was solid – these types of rides are hard to come by. I got great starts in both motos and then captured the perfect 1-1, which was awesome. I can’t say enough about my starts today, the KTM and Dunlop combination just hooked up and made my day a whole lot easier, so I’m stoked to pick up a dual race win, and the goal is to just keep winning.

Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) – 12th:
Finished the day here in QMP for round seven, which started really good with P4 in qualifying. A couple of bad starts made my racing really difficult as I was buried in the pack, but I really gave it my all both motos, and now I’m excited to hit the sand this weekend!

Wilson Todd (Terrafirma Equipment Sales Honda Racing) – Third: 
Alright day today, grabbed a couple of points. Good qualy, holeshot in moto one but tipped over, and then moto two just wheelied out of the gate pretty bad and I was way out the back. I made heaps of passes, got to third and kept it in eco until the end and got the points I need.

Brodie Connolly (Polyflor Honda Racing) – Second:
Really good day for me, I’m happy with it. Probably one of my most consistent days of the year going 3-2 for second overall. I’m very happy with how my day was, the track formed up cool and it was real fun to ride.

Rhys Budd (Serco Yamaha) – Sixth: 
Not a day that I’m happy with. I put in a lot of work during the week and this result isn’t what the team or I were expecting. We are better than that and the plan is now to bounce back at the final round and finish the year on a strong note.

Kaleb Barham (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) – Seventh:
I would like to have been a little better, but I felt good on the bike and was able to run near the front. I got some arm pump late in the race but that was due to the lack of racing lately and hopefully I will be better for the run this weekend.

Jayce Cosford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) – Fifth: 
I just wanted to get a result I can build from and it’s good to be able to achieve that. I have been off the bike for a while with a knee injury, so I’m happy to come back and put two solid motos together and finish in the top five for the round.

Noah Ferguson (GasGas Racing Team) – Fourth:
I struggled with my starts today! All things considered, I’m happy given that I started outside the top 20 in each moto and charged my way up to fourth… I feel like that says a lot about my speed and fitness. Just disappointed in my starts, because I’d love to be up there from the beginning to see what I can do, but we’ll regroup and give things a good shot in Coolum.

Blake Fox (Raceline Husqvarna Berry Sweet Racing) – 24-23:
Today was one of the worst races of the year for me. I felt like I was just trying to survive out there. I got arm-pump in both motos and struggled to find lines that flowed, just found it difficult to find that speed and drive. It was also a lot hotter than I was expecting in the afternoon… It definitely wasn’t my best day, but I’m looking forward to racing my first national at Coolum next weekend. I’m lucky enough to have trained there a few times, so I’m looking forward to finishing the season strongly.