Pirelli MX2 wrap from ProMX Round Two at Gum Valley

2022 Penrite ProMX Championship
Round Two – Gum Valley, Mackay
Pirelli MX2

With Mark Bracks – Images RbMotoLens

The 250cc class is shaping up to be a similar scenario to what was witnessed last year where Honda’s Kyle Webster established a stranglehold on the title early in proceedings. Sure, it’s going to be a longer season with all rounds (hopefully) completed, but the early signs are similar. Wilson Todd returned to Australia after “ageing out” in the MX2 World Championship and has been in dominant form, taking four from four, for a perfect card so far.

Todd might not have been fasted in qualifying, as he ended up fifth, but when the work-day started at the drop of the gate in the Pirelli MX2 class he was on duty, grabbing the holeshot and from there was never headed.

The same can’t be said for Serco Yamaha rider Jesse Dobson. After having the good fortune and privilege of riding the track in the lead up to the event, Dobson was the fastest in qualifying, but the orientation ride was to no avail as his day unravelled on the opening lap, Dobson crashing to drop to second-last before he picked himself up and began the unenviable battle of clawing up the leader board once again to salvage points.

Dobson’s Serco team-mate, Bailey Malkiewicz, also had his troubles early in the race, a mistake saw him dropped back to 14th before he also had to clamber back up the leader board.

While Todd set the pace, the rest of the field battled for the minors as Yamalube Yamaha team-mates Alex Larwood and Rhys Budd tried valiantly to keep the Honda rider in check. Budd was second for the majority of the race after Larwood dropped to seventh on the opening lap. But Larwood  negotiated the conditions with aplomb to fight his way back to overtake his team-mate and claim second. Budd finished third ahead of Dylan Wills (Husqvarna Racing), and Queenslander Noah Ferguson, fourth and fifth respectively.

Malkiewicz fought his way back to sixth place after the 14 laps while Dobson managed to salvage a few points with his 12^th place finish as Todd won the moto by nearly four-seconds.

Pirelli MX2 Race One Results

Pirelli MX2 Race Two

Leg two was slightly different as Dobson grabbed the holeshot award and held the lead for two opening laps ahead of Todd and Malkiewicz. Dobson then had a minor hiccup which saw him drop to fourth behind Wills as Wilson Todd grabbed the lead. The gap to second was varying between three and five-seconds as the Serco Yamaha team-mates battled each other for the final two spots on the podium.

Malkiewicz was in front of his team-mate for the majority of the race, but Dobson managed to pass him with a little more than four laps to go. Malkiewicz tried everything to regain the place but was thwarted when a couple of back-markers interrupted the pair, allowing Dobson the buffer he needed to claim second place, Malkiewicz third.  Larwood fourth and Wills fifth.

Obviously, Todd again won the day in dominant form ahead of Larwood, with Malkiewicz third, while Wills and Budd were on equal points for fourth, a solitary point behind the Serco Yamaha rider.

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With his four from four, Todd has a 16-point title lead over Larwood, with Malkiewicz a further 11-points adrift in third overall.

Alex Larwood – P2

“Another awesome day today here at Mackay and happy to be on the podium again,” he begins. “I was gutted when I fell off last week and thought I would have to miss this round but the doctors did a great job and apart from some rubbing on the scar, the collarbone didn’t bother me too much during racing. My starts were a little off today and something I need to get sorted but otherwise I was happy with my riding and the team did a great job with the bike. The Gum Valley track was awesome so thank you to everyone involved in the event and to the crowd that showed up today.”

Bailey Malkiewicz – P3

“Any day on the podium is a good so I can’t complain too much. The first moto I just couldn’t get going when it was on in the final laps. I worked hard to get into the fight but then I just didn’t go on with it when I needed to. The second one was better and although Jesse got me at the end, I think I stayed on a more consistent pace, and I felt better on the bike. We have a few weeks before round three so looking forward to getting back to work and trying to improve on this result at Albury.”

Dylan Wills – P4

“Today was definitely better than the first round, but I’m going to try and focus on a new strategy for qualifying so that I can start the day with a better gate pick. In saying that, I still had two good starts. I rode pretty solidly in the first race and put in two really good laps and I could see I was catching the leader, but with the lack of racing, I got too excited, the humidity got to me, and I ended up just surviving to the finish-line. I got another good start in the second race, but I didn’t have that extra few percent that the leaders had, so was realistic with myself and rode it home for some good points.”

Rhys Budd – P5

“Moto one was great, and it felt good to be back up front again and fighting for race wins. I kept Wilson in sight all race and was just the moto I needed to get things rolling. Moto two wasn’t great but as a day it was much improved over round one and a feel like things are coming around for me. The next few tracks are good for me, so I hope to build from the momentum here and get myself on the podium and up in the championship fight.”

Jesse Dobson – P6

“It was a crazy day. Started great, went sideways a couple of times, and finished strong. I’m still trying to work out how I fitted that much stuff into one day. Qualifying was great, moto one was goods riding and terrible result and then I bounced back in moto two only to crash and finish second. My riding is good and I didn’t realise I had a bit of a gap in moto two that I could have just got into a flow and not feel like I was under pressure. But, despite the result, I think I have the speed to match it with everyone and I just nee to clean up a few things to be right in the hunt.”

Pirelli MX2 Race Two

Pirelli MX2 Round Points

Pirelli MX2 Standings Top 15

2022 Australian ProMX Championship Calendar