2022 ProMX Pirelli MX2 season review | Todd Transcendence

2022 Penrite ProMX Championship

ProMX Pirelli MX2 season recap

There is no doubt that Wilson Todd is a world class rider and his domination of the Pirelli MX2 category this season is a reflection of the talent he possesses. 

To be fair, the only reason that Todd was in Australia in 2022 was the fact that he aged out of the MX2 World Championship and there were no opportunities forthcoming to move up to MXGP MX1. As such, the boss of Honda racing Yarrive Konsky had no hesitation in signing him up to race at home.  Wise move!

A quick look at his resume will explain why. Todd has three national titles in the bag with success in the MX3 development class in 2015 for the Yamalube Team, and back-to-back titles in the MX2 category with Serco Yamaha in 2018/19 before he headed overseas.

Right from the season opener at Wonthaggi it was soon evident to both the opposition and interested observers, that in 2022 it was going to take something special for anyone to halt his charge.

Todd won 11 races from the first six rounds. The glitch on that fine charge was a fourth place at Wodonga after a self-inflicted mistake saw him drop out of the lead. He wrapped the title up with three races remaining and promptly jumped up to the premier 450 class, qualified fastest in the final two rounds and then won the opening race at Coolum last weekend, before backing it up with a third place in the final race of the year to win the round outright.

Word on the street is that Todd’s next stop will be the USA. 

While Todd’s performances made it appear as a one horse race to the title, there was plenty going on behind as the rest of the field settled into a battle for the minor places. 

Yamalube’s Rhys Budd was pretty consistent with three seconds and a quartet of thirds to eventually finish runner-up to Todd, but he sure made it hard for himself. Budd did manage to score a podium at every round, bar two. Took a double podium at one round (Gillman), but it was his results in each second moto that was a concern for him and his team, as he seemed to really struggle in the second moto at each round. A podium then lucky to score a top ten in the second leg. Maybe he overthinks the second moto as he sits in the truck.  He often blew the start and on most occasions he didn’t really progress from there. Budd has the pace and the talent, plus the size, so maybe he will prove better suited to muscling a 450 around.

As the season unfolded, Budd came under threat from the Serco Yamaha boys, Jesse Dobson and Bailey Malkiewicz, however, both had their injury demons. On the eve of the final round Dobson was third in the MX2 class, aiming to consolidate his position after scoring five podiums throughout the season, but Coolum was not to see any additions. His season has been overshadowed by shoulder injuries, his left arm the main culprit. 

In the past month Dobson has popped his shoulder at least four times, one of which was in the opening moto at Coolum. A few laps in he went off-track after getting crossed-up and in the process ripped the bone from the socket, and rode around the venue in extreme pain to get back to the signalling area. 

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Doubled over in agony, he dismounted the bike, rushed off and popped the shoulder back in, then returned to the fray but he was black flagged. Not for the injury, but the way he left the track and returned.

For the second moto he was sporting more tape than a 3M factory in an effort to ride but he didn’t last very long into the race. “JD” hit a rut the wrong way, causing him to run off and again damaged his right shoulder in the process. Some days…

Enough is enough and he will undergo an operation on Friday in an effort to repair the damage.

A fit Dobson would certainly be a title threat.

As for his team mate, the “Milkshake” has been battling knee problems for more than the past year. At Gillman, back in May, his season came very close to unravelling completely when he tweaked it again which contributed to his two DNFs in the motos. 

Coolum went better for the lanky lad as he scored 4-3 results to claim a podium finish for the first time since the third round at Wodonga. In scoring those results, and Dobson’s two DNFs, it enabled Bailey to leapfrog his team-mate into third overall, and no doubt pick up a lovely bonus from the team. 

The “what might have been” scenario for the year was KTM rider, Nathan Crawford. The likeable Queenslander broke his femur just before the start of the season and was an absentee in the class until the sixth round at Coffs Harbour when he made a much welcomed return. 

In Crawford’s first race back, he finished fourth and backed it up with a second later in the day, then at the demanding round at QMP scored a very impressive double victory after leading the second moto from gate to flag. 

Last weekend at Coolum Crawford kicked off the weekend with a repeat performance to lead the field from the hole-shot, and then very nearly backed it up with another win in the final race of the year, but WBR Racing/Bulk Nutrients Levi Rogers had other ideas and finally broke through for a much needed victory to help boost his confidence and finish the season on a high note.   Crawford’s second place gave him the round win.

The world is full of “ifs” “buts” and “maybes” and we are all millionaires in hindsight, however a fit Crawford would have been an ingredient that would’ve added even more spark to the battle. And he may have quite possibly given Todd a close run. 

The same can be said for Budd’s teammate, Alex Larwood, who missed the latter half of the season due to injury. Then there is the WBR/Bulk Nutrients Yamaha lads, Ryder Kingsford and Levi Rogers. Kingsford was runner-up in the MX3 category in 2021, and made a great impression in the early rounds before a knee injury, before the fourth round at Maitland, forced his withdrawal from the remainder of the year.

As for Rogers, he missed the opening two rounds of the season and then struggled in the next two rounds with lacklustre results, his best a ninth place in Moto2 at Wodonga. Fast forward another two rounds and Rogers had a crash in the opening leg at Maitland that forced him out of the meeting. 

Rogers has worked extremely hard on returning to full fitness and was suitably rewarded with a win in the final moto at Coolum.

Other notable mentions for the year should include the visiting Japanese rider Haruki Yokoyama. He is the smallest lad in the field but he sure has some pace, particularly out of the gate, and it appears that he will return to compete with the Empire Kawasaki team in 2023.

And finally, the Ferugson brothers, Noah and Isaac. The pair are extremely hard on themselves and they will be aiming for a bit more consistency during the SX season and when the outdoors return in 2023.

The will be plenty of movements in this class with riders graduating to the Thor MX1 class, riders swapping teams, as well as some staying put, and graduates from Maxxis MX3 that will ensure the intermediate class is as competitive as ever next year. 

Pirelli MX2 Coolum Round Points

Pirelli MX2 Final Championship Points