Aaron Tanti pushed his way through two gruelling 30 minutes motos to win the 2022 ProMX MX1 Championship at the eighth and final round of the series at the Coolum Pines circuit on the Sunshine Coast.
Tanti and his team had a comfortable 24 point lead over former champ, Dean Ferris, but the margin for error decreased with the inclusion of Kyle Webster and Wilson Todd in the field.
Ferris placed third in race 1, while Tanti crossed the finish line in seventh, keeping the points gap at a comfortable 18 points. Tanti just needed to finish inside the top 12 to become the ProMX Championship for 2022, and that’s what he did!
Tanti maintained a consistent pace in fifth position right until the end where he came across the line in sixth place as the new MX1 champion.
“Today certainly wasn’t my best riding and I have been pretty nervous all week to be honest,” said a relieved Tanti. “I have never been in this situation before and this is my first pro title so I was just doing my best to get the job done and make sure I didn’t make any stupid mistakes.
“It’s not the way you always like to win a championship, but the hard work was done in the earlier rounds and I was able to build a good points gap on Dean and that allowed some margin today that meant it wasn’t all on the line and I could afford to be a little conservative on the track.
“Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for their support and endless guidance and encouragement of me this year. I came to the team as I thought they would give me the best chance of success and to be able to secure the ProMX championship with them this year is amazing. Allister, Brad, Gary, Troy and Craig do an amazing job and once you are part of CDR, its easy to see why they have won so many championships over the years.
“I also want to thank my family and girlfriend for their support. They go through the ups and downs of a racer every day and they have sacrificed things in their lives for me to have success and it was awesome to have them all here today.
“And finally to MA and the organisers of the ProMX championship. This year has been a huge step forward for the championship and we have had eight great rounds. MA have done a good job since taking over the promotion of the national motocross championship and looking forward to it being bigger and better in 2023.
“But for now, it’s time to enjoy this one and soak it up with the team, family and friends,” Tanti concluded.
MX1 – Final Championship Standings
1st Aaron Tanti – 325
2nd Dean Ferris – 308
3rd Todd Waters – 296
4th Brett Metcalfe – 287
5th Kirk Gibbs – 260
6th Hayden Mellross – 206
7th Joel Evans – 181
8th Joel Wightman – 157
9th Joben Baldwin – 154
10th Jayden Rykers – 147