Round seven of the 2022 ProMX Championship saw Wilson Todd crowned MX2 champion as the battles for the MX1 and MX3 class heated up with Dean Feeris and Ryan Alexanderson taking wins closing the points gap as we head to the final round.
Queensland Moto Park presented a challenging track after heavy overnight rain left the track muddy in the morning and hard-packed and heavily rutted in as racing progressed. After a day of close racing Dean Ferris took another five points from Aaron Tanti in the MX1 class while Nathan Crawford was a step above the class in the MX2 class completing a perfect day with a pair of wins. Ryan Alexanderson closed his gap to Kayden Minear in the MX3 title chase down to seventeen points with a strong win while Minear could only manage sixth on the day.
MX1
In the opening MX1 Moto, it was yet again another trademark Holeshot from a resurgent Dean Ferris. Behind Ferris, the tone for the day was set, with Red Plate Holder Aaron Tanti in second place in the opening laps. As the battle developed giving the fans everything they wanted to see, the two Championship heavyweights maintained close track position for the majority of the race, with Tanti unable to make a move onto Ferris’ rear wheel and challenge for a pass.
With a race track proving one lined at times in the opening Moto’s due to heavy rain on Saturday, the majority of the top placings would remain relatively unchanged throughout the first half of the Moto, before riders began to find their flow. A hard-charging Brett Metcalfe caught fire at the halfway mark, passing from the back side of the top ten on the opening laps all the way to third position with a few laps to go. At the same time, Ferris began to edge away from Tanti and took the chequered flag with a comfortable margin, ahead of Tanti in second, Metcalfe, Todd Waters was fourth and a very impressive fifth position for the MX1 debutant of newly crowned Pirelli MX2 class Champion, Wilson Todd, fresh off both the Championship and pole position in the AMX Superstores Top Ten Shootout in MX1.
Welcoming the return of the back-to-back racing format for the second Moto, starts and track position were crucial with riders being presented with an extremely rough and challenging race track for the afternoon.
Ferris wasted no time executing another perfect Holeshot in Part 1 of the two fifteen-minute back-to-back Moto’s, leading wire-to-wire in the shorter race format to claim an all important win, setting himself up in a great position for the lowest combined points score of the two back-to-back Moto’s and an overall win on the day. Behind Ferris, Kirk Gibbs found form, following Ferris closely to second position with Aaron Tanti third.
In Part two, Wilson Todd emerged as the Holeshot winner, as Ferris tangled bars with a number of riders. Gibbs sprinted to the front of the field early, passing Todd for the lead, and did not look back as he logged clean laps to take the chequered flag. Behind Gibbs, Ferris and Tanti both mounted charges on each other and towards Gibbs but ultimately had settle for second and third respectively.
With 2-1 Moto scores in the back-to-back’s, Gibbs’s lowest points score in the Olympic system saw him take the overall win for the combined race, but the overall win on the day belonged to Ferris, who clawed back a valuable five points in the Championship points on Tanti. Tanti took second overall for the round with Gibbs third.
Pirelli MX2
In MX2 Kaleb Barham brought his Coffs Harbour momentum right into QMP with a Holeshot and a flawless opening half to Moto one, leading the field until the halfway point. Rhys Budd ran in second place with the Championship on the line, as Red Plate holder, Wilson Todd started in fifth position.
Todd did not look rushed as he slowly worked his way forward, eventually passing into fourth position past after passing Jayce Cosford, who was enjoying another strong showing after his speed at the previous round.
As the Moto played out it was Nathan Crawford who worked his way forward to pass Budd and then Barham for the Moto win, with Budd finishing in second and Barham holding onto third ahead of Todd.
With the fourth position being more than enough to clinch the title, Todd was crowned the Pirelli MX2 Class Champion at the chequered flag, to the delight of the entire HRC Team.
In Moto 2 Todd, with the championship wrapped up, elected to focus on his MX1 racing commitments for the afternoon, leaving the class wide open.
Nathan Crawford took the Holeshot as the gate dropped on Moto 2, with Levi Rogers in second and privateer Reid Taylor in third in the. These three riders rode in close proximity for the first half of the Moto before Bailey Malkiewicz and Jesse Dobson put on a charge to the front. Moving towards the top three, Dobson eventually passed his teammate and had his sights firmly set on the front, passing Rogers for second in the closing laps.
At the chequered flag, it was Crawford with a perfect 1-1 and the overall win, with Dobson in second and Rogers in third.
MX3
Ryan Alexanderson has emerged as a late-season sensation in the class, showing speed, consistency, and maturity in the second half of the season to at times, dominate the MX3 class.
QMP was no different, as early race leader and pacesetter Connor Towill gapped the field with a huge lead early in the opener before an unfortunate crash saw him DNF. As the field regrouped, it was Alexanderson who passed Red Plate holder Kayden Minear and moved into the top five, before working his way through to the Moto win, with Ryley Fitzpatrick in second, Cooper Holroyd was third, Byron Dennis fourth, and Minear in fifth at the flag.
Moto 2 saw Byron Dennis Holeshot, with Western Australia’s Myles Gilmore passing early for the lead position. As the race took shape, Alexanderson made a move into second with Jake Cannon in third. As these three riders battled, it was eventually Alexanderson who was too strong, passing Gilmore on the closing laps to finish with a perfect 1-1 scorecard and the overall win. Gilmore took a fantastic second in the Moto, with Cannon third. Overall contenders Dennis and Fitzpatrick finished fifth and sixth respectively with Red Plate Holder, Minear going 5-8 on the day.
YZ65 CUP
The next generation of Australian Motocross talent put on an incredible show at QMP for the Yamaha bLU cRU YZ65 Cup. Heath Davy continued his dominance from earlier in the season at Maitland, with a perfect day and 1-1 Moto scores to take the overall victory. Behind Davy, Deegan Fort and Jaggar Townley would trade podium positions in both Moto’s, with Fort claiming second overall and Townley third.
The Penrite ProMX Championship presented by AMX Superstores now heads to Coolum, Queensland for the final Round 8 on August 20th and 21st.
THOR MX1 Overall Podium
1st – Dean Ferris
2nd – Aaron Tanti
3rd – Kirk Gibbs
Pirelli MX2 Overall Podium
1st – Nathan Crawford
2nd – Rhys Budd
3rd – Jesse Dobson
MAXXIS MX3 Overall Podium
1st – Ryan Alexanderson
2nd – Ryley Fitzpatrick
3rd – Byron Dennis
bLU cRU YZ65 Cup Overall Podium
1st – Heath Davy
2nd – Deegan Fort
3rd – Jaggar Townley
