Things are already heating up at the final round of the 2024 ProMX Championship at Queensland Moto Park (QMP).
On the opening day of the two-day series finale, SCT Logistics Honda Racing’s Charli Cannon continued her perfect season and won the EZILIFT MXW crown with a moto to spare.
At the same time, the 30-39 Years and 40-Plus MX Vets titles were won by Luke Reardon and Mike Sleeter, while Blake Bohannon took another step towards winning the KTM Group MX65 Futures series.
The Thor MX1, Pirelli MX2 and MAXXIS MX3 classes all held their qualifying races today, too, with Jed Beaton, Brodie Connolly and Ky Woods topping the timesheets.
MX1
Even by his usual qualifying standards, Jed Beaton threw down a searing lap-time that was leagues ahead of the rest of the field during the MX1 qualifying.
Beaton’s 1m52.338s lap at the end of the session was almost 1.8s quicker than that of series leader Kyle Webster, setting the stage for a tense championship showdown tomorrow.
Off the back of a disappointing result last weekend at Gympie, Todd Waters rebounded with the third-fastest time, jumping ahead of Kirk Gibbs and Nathan Crawford late in the session.
Luke Clout, Zac Watson, Maximus Purvis, Wilson Todd and Caleb Ward also guaranteed their spots in tomorrow’s AMX Superstores Top 10 Pole Shootout.
MX2
He might’ve already won the Pirelli MX2 championship, but it doesn’t look like Brodie Connolly is going to take things easy for tomorrow’s final motos.
The Polyflor Honda Racing rider jumped to the top of the qualifying timesheets early, then as soon as anyone looked like challenging his time, he’d quickly respond. The end result was a fastest lap of 1m55.446s, almost 0.9s quicker than Jayce Cosford.
A trio of MX2 podium hopefuls claimed the remaining top five placings, as Kayden Minear finished the session third-quickest, followed by Noah Ferguson and Ryder Kingsford.
Rhys Budd, Reid Taylor, Alex Larwood, Cambell Williams and Haruki Yokoyama completed the top 10 this afternoon.
MX3
Ky Woods threw down a blistering MX3 qualifying time to claim pole position ahead of tomorrow’s final round.
Having already given the field a time to chase early on, Woods stopped the clock with a 1m56.014s lap towards the end of his session, more than 1.2s quicker than Deacon Paice’s best time of 1m57.29s in group one.
New series red plate-holder Jake Cannon registered the third-fastest time once the two groups were merged together, followed by Kayd Kingsford.
Jackson Fuller and Kobe Drew filled the remaining top five places.
Previous championship leader, Koby Hantis could only manage the seventh-fastest time, behind Jet Alsop in sixth.
EZILIFT MXW
With a race still remaining tomorrow, SCT Logistics Honda Racing’s Charli Cannon has successfully defended her MXW crown and remains on target to complete a perfect season.
In qualifying earlier, Cannon put down a 2m04.236s lap-time, but was pushed hard for most of the session by Taylah McCutcheon, who finished just 0.6s further back. Taylor Thompson locked down the third-quickest time, over 6.5s off the pace of McCutcheon.
Victorian Emma Milesevic and New Zealand’s Karaitiana Horne finished qualifying fourth and fifth respectively, trailed by MXW regular front-runners Madi Simpson and Danielle McDonald.
Saturday’s championship-winning MXW race was all one-way traffic for Cannon, as she grabbed the holeshot and relentlessly built her lead throughout the 15-minute plus one lap moto.
In a race that saw limited passing near the front of the field, Cannon cruised to a 21.8-second victory over Thompson, who fended off a late-race challenge from McCutcheon to finish runner-up.
McDonald crossed the line in P4 and Milesevic fifth, as Tahlia O’Hare, Simpson, Horne, Darci Whalley and Emily Lambert filled the top 10.
MX65 Futures
Kye Sproule took top spot in qualifying with an impressive time of 2m27.271, which was more than five-and-a-half seconds quicker than series leader Blake Bohannon, in second. Victoria’s Mason Ezergailis, was third-fastest, another three seconds further back.
Sproule would claim the holeshot of the first MX65 Futures moto, but Bohannon was able to get past him and take the lead on the opening lap, then pull away to take the win by 11.4 seconds from Sproule.
Queenslander Sidney Stephenson finished third, while Ezergailis and Ethan Wolfe finished a distant P4 and P5. The sixth and final moto of the MX65 Futures series will be held tomorrow.
MXV Veterans
Older guys, new machinery. That was the theme of today’s MX Vets racing as two Stark Vargs topped the 30-39 Years and 40-Plus divisions, at the hands of Luke Reardon and Mike Sleeter.
Warning signals sounded early when Queensland’s Reardon destroyed the 30-39 field in qualifying by almost 10 full seconds. He set a time of 2m03.537s, putting daylight between himself and Codey Russ, as Trent Loder finished the session third-quickest.
Corey Vanderlei topped the 40-Plus group with a 2m10.298s lap-time, beating Sleeter and Mathew Fish for gate-pick honours.
In the first MXV moto, Reardon claimed the holeshot and went on to comfortably take both the 30-39 and combined wins. Riding a good, steady race, Russ finished second, while Loder finished on the moto podium. Charles Brett and Christopher Couch wrapped up their first moto in fourth and fifth.
In the 40-Plus division, Vanderlei grabbed the holeshot, but Sleeter worked his way through the pack to take control of the race. However, despite crossing the line in first, Sleeter was relegated two positions due to a start-line infringement.
That meant Yamaha rider Dean Freer would take the moto win, followed by Fish, with Sleeter third. Vanderlei crossed the line in P4 and Sam Lyttle fifth.
Reardon again dominated the second moto from gate-drop to chequered flag, taking a 1m21s win over Russ, with Loder crossing the line a further 10 seconds back. Brett and Mitchell McReadie, completed the top five.
In the 40-Plus division, Vanderlei again beat everyone to the first turn, but Sleeter hit the front before half a lap was run and stretched out a huge lead. He’d work his way all the way up to P5 in the combined placings before time ran out, while Vanderlei got the better of Fish to take second. Moto one winner Freer finished in P4, and Lyttle in fifth.
In the final standings, Reardon claimed a perfect 50 points to take the MXV 30-39 victory, with Russ second (44) and Loder third (40). In the MXV 40-Plus class, Sleeter’s second-moto win saw him claim the overall victory on 45 points, with Freer second (43) and Fish third (42).
