2022 ProMX Thor MX1 season in review

2022 Penrite ProMX Championship

A look back at the 2022 Thor MX1 season

The Thor MX1 class went down to the last race of the year to finally determine the victor, but it wasn’t the bar bashing battle for the title that many were hoping. 

Aaron Tanti (CDR Monster Yamaha Racing) played it safe and didn’t become involved in any risky shenanigans to take his first premier title and add another piece of silverware to the bulging trophy cabinet of the mega-successful CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team. 

The Honda Racing Team had attempted to bolster Dean Ferris’ chances for a fourth title by promoting runaway MX2 champion, Wilson Todd, to the premier category at QMP to ride shotgun for Ferris in an effort to take more points from Tanti.

Kyle Webster also returned at QMP after recovering from his broken leg in an effort to also assist Ferris, but Tanti wasn’t going to be sucked in trying to take more victories. He was quite happy to play it safe and keep an eye on the points advantage he had. 

Todd proved he can ride anything with two wheels as he was the fastest qualifier in the final two rounds and easily won the opening moto at Coolum in dominant fashion as he streaked away from the field. 

Todd then backed it up with a third place in the second moto behind Webster and Waters. That was enough for the MX2 champion to take the round win ahead of an expected move to the USA for 2023.

In the title-deciding second moto, Ferris got an absolute shocker of a start to be almost dead last as the field exited the hole-shot corner and then had to pull out all stops to charge through the pack. After he fought through to be on the rear wheel of Tanti, who was in fifth position, the Yamaha rider almost came to a stop to let Ferris through, and then simply just cruised home to sixth place, some 10 seconds behind Ferris, and thus took the title by 18 points.

At the previous round of the Penrite ProMX Championship that was presented by AMX Superstores, at Queensland Moto Park just “down the road” at Boonah, near Ipswich, Tanti had his 29-point lead over Ferris cut slightly to 24-points, so he still went into the final with almost a race win up his sleeve, making it a tough call for Ferris to be able to capture a fourth title. 

But as we know in racing, it ain’t over ‘till it’s over. 

Adding a little more sentiment to the event was the emotional announcement that Ferris would be hanging up the helmet after the weekend, to concentrate on family life after a stellar career both here and overseas.

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Casting an eye over the entire season’s result, it’s clear that the very mediocre results for Ferris in the first round where he carded 17-9 results, was where his chance of the title blew out to long odds. However, from there, the veteran got his act together and took more victories than anyone else, with six wins and three more podiums that saw him leap-frog his way up the points table to be the best of the rest behind Tanti. Ferris will rue the round results at Wonthaggi and what might have been. 

It’s been a consistent season for Tanti who stepped up and took on the primary responsibility for the CDR team after 2021 Champion, Luke Clout, broke his leg in the opening moto of the second round at Mackay back in April.  Tanti rose to the occasion after team owner Craig Dack decided not to draft in a second rider. Three race victories and a further eight podium finishes saw him rack up the points at every round.

Tanti’s path was perhaps made a little easier when Pirelli MX2 champion, Kyle Webster (HRC), broke his leg in a training crash soon after the Mackay round to rule him out of competition until his return for the round at QMP, the week before Coolum.

The absence of Clout and Webster gave the veterans of the class like Ferris, Todd Waters (Husqvarna) Brett Metcalfe (Go24 KTM) and Kirk Gibbs (KTM) a massive dose of “Shit, maybe I can win another title” boost to their efforts and the competition lifted as a result.

The quartet of legends all climbed the top step of the podium at least once during the year and they all backed it up with top three finishes at the majority of rounds. In almost every race there was a freight train of riders at the front giving it everything they had. 

Matt Moss – who sat out the final two rounds after crashing out of the lead in the second moto at Coffs – scored a couple of second places at Maitland, and came very close to a win that same weekend.

Many seasoned onlookers often repeated during the eight rounds that the racing was some of the most competitive and intense that has been witnessed in the Australian MX Championships for some years.

As for the final round on the weekend, it may have not been the battle we were hoping for, but the races were still entertaining as riders contended with an ever changing track. The sand of Coolum was a stark contrast to the surface at the previous QMP round. 

Todd dominated the opening moto then team-mate Webster took over up front in the second moto but it was Todd that won the round.  Placing second overall on the day was Waters who scored P2 in both contests to tally one more point than Webster at Coolum.

As for the championship battle, Ferris led home his title rival in both motos with a third in race one followed by a fifth in the second moto, against Tanti’s 6-5 results, but it wasn’t enough to upset Tanti who rode safe to secure the title by 18 points.  

Waters’ second overall at Coolum was enough for him to take third in the title and push Metcalfe back to fourth overall.  Gibbs was fifth to let the youngsters of the class know that there is still plenty of fight left in the old boys. 

Thor MX1 Coolum Round Points

Thor MX1 Final Championship Points