Toowoomba’s Echo Valley saw multiple race winners across each of the classes as the 2024 ProMX Championship arrived in Queensland for round six today.
And the gears clicked another level, firstly by featuring as retro round and resulting in a number of seriously nostalgic throwback bike liveries, and secondly, with the late addition of MotoGP megastar Jack Miller on track – trying his hand in the dirt during the grand prix summer break.
Jed Beaton swapped race wins with MX1 series leader Kyle Webster to emerge victorious on countback and ensure the slender seven-point gap remains with two rounds remaining.
Brodie Connolly again extended his Pirelli MX2 points margin, Jake Cannon narrowing the gap in MX3, and Charli Cannon continuing her perfect season in WMX.
MX1
After a hard-fought day of MX1, Jed Beaton claimed the round win on countback from Kyle Webster, while Nathan Crawford took home another round podium.
Beaton continued his domination of the AMX Superstores Top 10 Shootout this year by claiming the top qualifying result at Echo Valley. The Yamaha rider finished 1.108s ahead of Luke Clout, who threw down a storming final lap to push Webster to third-quickest
Webster claimed the opening moto win, but only after a classic race-long battle with Beaton. The current points leader scored the holeshot, but Beaton put down some aggressive opening laps to charge from fifth and into the lead early.
The pair matched lap times for most of the race before Webster ramped up the pressure and soared past Beaton in the last quarter of the race and into the lead, then won by 7.5s. Crawford bounced back from a small early crash to finish a distant third, as seasoned racers Kirk Gibbs and Todd Waters filled the top five.
As the sun sank and the ruts got gnarlier, Beaton bounced back to convincingly win the second MX1 moto, and take the round honours. Crawford took the holeshot, but Beaton made multiple aggressive passes to charge into the lead and put in a statement ride to claim a 21-second win over Webster.
Red plate-holder Webster also had to work his way from outside the top five early to take the runner-up spot in brutal track conditions and to ensure the points margin between the two rivals remains at seven with two rounds to go. Crawford crossed the finish in third, ahead of privateer Caleb Ward and Clout, who had an eventful moto.
In the championship standings, Webster still leads Beaton by seven points, with Crawford 42 points behind in third.
As for Miller, in a one-off showing at Toowoomba with backing from Caterpillar, the North Queenslander was impressive to finish both motos just outside the points this afternoon.
Pirelli MX2
Kiwi Brodie Connolly continued to relentlessly build his advantage in the Pirelli MX2 class, with a 2-1 result. Joining him on the round podium were Reid Taylor and Jayce Cosford.
Taylor stormed to pole position in MX2 qualifying, edging out Kaleb Barham for the top spot by a slender 0.026s, as Connolly completed the top three.
The opening moto belonged to local racer Barham, who found a flow around the already-rutted circuit to pass Connolly and take a breakthrough win.
Brock Flynn scored the holeshot from Barham and Ryder Kingsford, but Connolly surged by Barham to take the early lead. Barham hung tough, then snatched the lead from the red plate-holder and the pair distanced themselves from the rest of the pack as they fought through to the final lap.
Behind Connolly, Jayce Cosford rode a lonely race to third, ahead of Taylor and Cambell Williams. A difficult motos for title hopefuls Noah Ferguson and Kingsford saw them finish 8th and 14th, respectively.
Connolly bounced back to take an emphatic start-to-finish win in the second moto, claiming the round win and extending his points lead. The Kiwi scored the holeshot and led Taylor for the duration of the race, finishing 10 seconds up the track from the Kawasaki rider.
Queenslander Cosford put in a solid ride to place third and take his first-career round podium, as Alex Larwood recovered from a bad start to take 4th, ahead of Kingsford. Moto one winner Barham crashed early and recovered to finish 8th.
In the MX2 standings, Connolly’s stretched his series lead over Kingsford to 54 points, with Ferguson another two points back.
MX3
Jake Cannon took another MX3 round win and continued to close in on the championship lead. But it didn’t go all his way, with Kobe Drew also claiming a Moto win.
Drew and Seth Burchell finished second and third on the round podium.
It was a perfect start to Cannon’s day when he topped the qualifying charts, beating out Murray Bridge round winner Ky Woods by 1.165s and a trio of WBR Bulk Nutrients Yamaha riders in Burchell, Kayd Kingsford and Drew.
Cannon comfortably won the opening MX3 moto by almost eight seconds. It was Kingsford who scored the holeshot, but he ran off-track in the next corner and allowed Cannon to inherit the lead, drop the hammer and take the victory.
Red plate-holder Koby Hantis got the better of a lengthy battle with his team-mate Burchell to lead the pair across the finish line, with a hard-charging Drew finishing 4th. Kingsford recovered from his off-track excursion to cross the line in fifth.
Drew won a dramatic second moto, after working his way from outside the top 10. Deegan Rose scored the holeshot, but Cannon was quickly by him and looked like he was heading for a double-moto victory, but crashed twice in consecutive corners late in the race and dropped to third.
Drew and Burchell were the big winners of Cannon’s bad luck, as those three finished 1-2-3 in the race. Hantis maintained his grip on the red plate with a fourth-place result overall, while Deacon Paice completed the top five.
In the championship standings, Cannon has shaved Hantis’ lead to seven points (246 to 239), with Drew another four markers behind in third.
EZILIFT MXW
Defending number one Charli Cannon continued to prove she’s in a league of her own in the MXW class, dominating Toowoomba with a pair of wire-to-wire wins.
Behind her, the round points were tight, with Taylah McCutcheon, Madi Simpson and Taylor Thompson all tying on 40 points. On countback, McCutcheon finished second and Simpson scored her first podium result.
Cannon set the standard early with a qualifying time that was almost 3.5s faster than second-placed Thompson, with McCutcheon a further 0.7s further back.
The opening MXW moto saw a familiar scenario unfold, as Cannon holeshot and led every lap to take a very comfortable 36.5s win. Thompson crossed the line a distant second, followed by Simpson. McCutcheon completed the moto in fourth, followed by Emma Milesevic, who recovered well from a mid-pack start.
Cannon continued her dominant form in the second moto, as another wire-to-wire win for the Honda rider saw her extend her perfect race record for the year.
Almost 37 seconds back was McCutcheon, followed by Simpson and Thompson, who battled hard to the chequered flag. Teenager Danielle McDonald crossed the line in 5th after a pair of late crashes saw her drop from third.
In the points, Cannon now has a perfect 150 points, leading Thompson on 126 and McDonald on 107, with one round remaining at QMP in a month’s time.
The championship now takes a few weeks break before returning to action at Gympie, QLD on August 11.
