Aaron Tanti, kicked it up a gear at round five of the Pro MX Championship taking an impressive round win on the back of his 1-1 results on the day to increase his margin in the championship chase.
Tanti came into the round with the championship leader’s red plate and a small gap over his rivals, but with the confidence of knowing the Maitland circuit well and achieving some success in the past at the venue. His day started slowly with his lap times in practice nearly three seconds off the pace setters in the class, but Tanti is a racer and knew he would be able to pull it all together when the gate dropped in race one.
The opening stages of the first MX1 moto of the day was as intense as any race has been this year. A four-rider pack broke away from the field with Kirk Gibbs leading Matt Moss, Tanti, and Brett Metcalfe all running wheel to wheel. Lap after lap would see a positional change as riders worked out the best way around the circuit and the strengths and weaknesses of each other.
Tanti used the tight right-hander in the middle of the circuit as his avenue to the front as he sliced up the inside of Moss, Metcalfe and finally Gibbs to hit the front with 10 minutes to go. The pressure stayed on all the way to the end, but Tanti was able to fight off the challenges, stay focused, and composed to take the race win.
Race two unfolded in a similar pattern with four combatants up the front. Tanti and Moss were joined by Dean Ferris and Todd Waters with all four bursting away from the rest of the MX1 field. Tanti made his move to the front on lap three and took control of the race, but the remaining trio were never far behind or out of the picture. Thirty minutes later, Tanto took the race win, less than a second ahead of Moss and four seconds covered the top for riders in an enthralling days racing.
“That one felt good, “Tanti said of his day at Maitland. “I was able to get my first round win at the last round at Gilman, now I have ticked another box and taken a round win with a 1-1 result, so it’s awesome to keep improving and achieving goals.
“I was pretty ordinary in practice and qualifying but because I have done the work during the week, I knew I would be fine once we started racing and that proved to be the case. It was a battle all day and for over an hour’s worth of racing, I had someone on me the entire time. Physically I feel really good, but mentally it took a lot of focus to stay in the moment, ride my best laps and get it done but I’m so happy that I was able to make that one happen today here with lots of friends and family to watch,” Tanti ends.
Equally impressed was team owner, Craig Dack, who has seen Tanti come of age this year and really mature in his riding and his preparation.
“I have to give all the credit to Aaron this weekend, he was amazing. With Luke going down with injury, Aaron has stepped up in so many ways and today was a real testament to the hard yards he has done and the results are just the reward he and the team deserves.
“When I was a racer, one of my goals in a championship was to get 26 points clear of your opposition as that way you are always a full race ahead of your rivals if anything ever happens. Aaron has now done that with a twenty-six points gap on second place and has built that with impressive performances over the last two rounds.
“Congratulations to him and a great result and know this will only inspire him to keep working,” Dack concluded.
Round six of the championship moves to Coffs Harbour on July 24 where Tanti and his CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team will be looking to replicate the same energy and focus.
PRO MX RESULTS
MX1
1st Aaron Tanti – 50 Points
2nd Matt Moss – 44 Points
3rd Todd Waters – 36 Points
4th Brett Metcalfe – 36 Points
5th Dean Ferris – 34 Points
6th Hayden Mellross- 31 Points
7th Joel Wightman – 26 Points
8th Dylan Wood – 24 Points
9th Joel Evans – 19 Points
10th Joben Baldwin -19 Points
MX1 Championship Points
1st Aaron Tanti – 214 Points
2nd Todd Waters- 188 Points
3rd Brett Metcalfe – 186 Points
4th Dean Ferris – 175 Points
5th Kirk Gibbs – 145 Points
6th Hayden Mellross – 138 Points
7th Jayden Rykers – 118 Points
8th Joel Evans – 114 Points
9th Joel Wightman – 101 Points
10th Joben Baldwin – 97 Points
