In perfect conditions, the massive MX3 field qualified down to the fast 40, then got to work during the two, twenty-minute races held on the day. Ky Woods put himself in a good position on the opening lap at Appin before bursting his way through to the lead and was never headed.
He roared off to another race win, making it three in a row to start the season but knowing plenty of challenges are ahead in the eight-round championship.
Race two and Woods didn’t quite get the jump he wanted and round the first lap in fourth place. It wasn’t until lap five that he was able to make his way into second and set off in pursuit of Kayd Kingsford. Kingsford had built a handy buffer over Woods with a six second gap separating the pair by the halfway point.
Woods then mounted a charge and started to reel Kingsford back in. Gaining around a second a lap, the space between the pair was shrinking and then just as things were about to get exciting, Woods lots the front end around a turn, slippery, hard pack left hander and went down.
He was able to quickly remount and not lose any positions but his ability to win the race had disappeared the moment his handlebars hit the dirt. Woods then bought it home in second and his 1-2 results equalled the 2-1 results of Kingsford, but Kingsford gets the round in due to the better finish in moto two.
“This is actually my first time ever getting a podium position at the ProMX championship,” Woods said as a strange fact. “I have won before and finished off the podium before but never finished second or third.
“The first race was good and a got a decent lead, then I saw Kayd went down, so I just needed to stay smart and not to anything silly to get the win there.
Then in race two, I saw he go the holeshot and was out front, so I needed to get passed a couple of riders quickly, but I took too long and gave him a good head start. I was able to eat into his lead there for a while, but I was using this line in the left-hand turn after the finish line that was hard pack and no ruts, and I just lost the front with a few laps to go.
“But I felt I rode well again, didn’t lose any points in the championship and the team are working hard so we are in great shape heading into round three,” Woods said.
It was the first race back for Koby Hantis after shoulder surgery and he was thrown into the deep end immediately at the ProMX. Hantis had only been back on the bike as the series opener started at Wonthaggi, so it’s been just under four weeks of ride time after a long layoff.
Clearly, he is well underdone and knows he is trying to race himself back to full speed and fitness, so the important step at the moment is to ensure he has riding and training continuity and an improvement with each outing.
He was able to work his way through the pack in race one to just inside the top eight, when the lack of bike time surfaced, and he slowed to compete the race. Race two was more of the same but Hantis is known for his determination so expect to see big improvements in the coming rounds.
“Finishing thirteenth isn’t something I’m happy with, but I know I had to start somewhere. I have been back on the bike for a few weeks, but I haven’t even been able to do a local race due to the wet weather in South-East Queensland so its straight into it here.
“I know things will get better and I will work harder than ever to get back up the front. The team understand it will take some time, and they have been great, but from now on, each round will get better, and it won’t be too long before I’m back battling for podiums again,” Hantis ends.
It’s a full house under the WBR Yamaha awning at round three of the championship with both the MX3 boys in action as well as the return of the Madi Simpson and the WMX division.
