Blake Bohannon, Hudson Francis and Stella Harding did themselves proud with a sensational performance at the 2025 Yamaha BLU CRU YZ World Superfinale, held in conjunction with the Motocross of Nations (MXoN) each year.

All three riders flew across to the Ironman MX circuit in Indiana to represent Australia at the Superfinale and pulled down some stunning results. It was the first trip for Francis and Harding, while Bohannon is an experienced campaigner, having raced in the 65cc class last year at Matterley Basin.

The 65 class got things started with Francis and Harding flying the flag. Competing in the twelve-minute plus two-lap races, both got off to a great start and were inside the top six after the first few turns. Francis began to move forward and, while not at the pace of the lead two, was able to fight his way into fourth and then get into a duel with a Canadian rider for the next couple of laps before breaking free and riding to a well-earned podium position in third.

“That was unreal,” Francis said moments after crossing the finish line. “I could hear the crowd all the way around the track and there were chainsaws and air horns going off in every corner.

“I was faster than the rider in front of me, but I didn’t know where to pass him. I kept trying, and he finally made a mistake, and I was able to get by and finish in third.

“Thank you to everyone at Yamaha for making this happen. It’s been so cool to race at the Motocross of Nations, and the Yamaha people have been awesome,” he ends.

Harding wasn’t to be outdone and kept the pace on the entire moto to finish in a stunning fifth place. Harding, the only female in the field, did it with style as she worked her way around the challenging Ironman circuit.

She had more than enough speed to pull away from the riders behind her, and in the closing laps, was beginning to make a run at the rider in fourth.

“Huddy was right ahead of me at the start, and I just wanted to stay with him the whole race. He got away, but I could see him and tried to stay as close as I could. I didn’t get passed and was able to finish fifth, which is pretty cool.

“This race is so good. There are so many people here, and I had so much fun out there racing today,” Harding explains.

The 85cc class was a barn burner and possibly the most exciting race of the day on Saturday.

Bohannon jumped out of the gate and snatched the race lead. As he came out of the woods section on the first lap, he hit a rock and the bike did everything it could to spit him to the ground—but miraculously, he held on and only lost a few positions while trying to regain control.

After half a lap to compose himself, Bohannon got back in the game. He moved into fourth and then began to close down on Nixon Coppins in third. After taking a lap to work out a good place to pass, Bohannon squeezed by and into third, some five seconds behind the race leaders.

He then began to whittle down the gap over the following laps. Each sector of the course saw Bohannon narrow the margin to the lead duo, and with just three laps to run, suddenly it was a three-man race.

Bohannon worked hard to hunt the fast-paced pair at the front, but once he got there, he just didn’t have the final five percent to get past. He hung with them for the next two laps until the final lap, when a small mistake saw the gap stretch back out to a few seconds.

Still, Bohannon was far from disgraced—it took two respected U.S.-based riders to beat the young Aussie, and the Bohannon name just became a little more known in motocross.

“I got a good start and was in front when my front wheel hit a rock and it just bounced sideways. I was lucky to save it, as I thought I was going down once I hit it.

“I was able to stay up, but I lost some time to the two guys out the front. I knew I was starting to catch them and then I could see them as we were on the same straight. I was getting closer and about one second away from the lead when I got loose in a turn and dropped back a little. At that stage, I was getting pretty tired.

“I wanted to win, so I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s been so good being here and racing at this track. I’ve seen it on TV and it looked cool, so to ride it was fun.

“Thanks to Yamaha Australia for inviting me and everyone at Yamaha in the U.S. who helped put the race on,” he offered.