The Penrite Honda Racing team continue to build as Mitchell Oldenburg and Luke Clout finished sixth and 10th respectively in Round 4 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship.
This is the team’s first year racing in America and each race provides them with an opportunity to learn, assess and progress.
“We are competing against teams that are better prepared, we are using each and every round for testing and we are learning so much. The data we collect helps the riders, engineers and management. We are confident we will continue to improve” said Team Director Yarrive Konsky.
One of the team’s plans was to hire a rider development coach and they have. Buddy Antunez is no stranger to coaching. He has had great success with Eli Tomac, Weston Pieck and Justin Brayton. Buddy retired from racing in 2004 after winning five Arenacross Championships, and achieving second and third outright in the AMA Supercross Championship. Buddy is excited to be involved and believes in the team’s potential.
“You need to consider how quickly this has come together. The team has already achieved two top three heat race finishes and six top 10 overalls. There is some real potential in both rider’s, and I am excited to get to work” said Antunez.
The team now moves to eighth and ninth in the championship standings. Mitchell moved to eighth following his sixth-place finish in Round 4 but isn’t satisfied, although he understands it’s a process.
“I got bad starts tonight and it hurt my overall chances. We have a lot of work ahead of us, I am still not 100% following my crash at A1 but I am feeling stronger and I can’t wait to throw everything I have at it. I am excited to work with Buddy” said Oldenburg.
Luke got better throughout the night. This is his third top 10 overall in a row which moved him to ninth in the championship. The team are impressed with his gutsy ride as he broke his toe on Friday during the press call.
“I am bummed I crashed on Friday and broke my toe. My foot was extremely sore, I can’t say it affected my riding but I was conscious of it. Another top 10 is good but I am not happy with these overalls. I know what I need to work on and I will continue to push forward, having Buddy will make a difference and everyone on team is working towards a common goal and I appreciate them”
Please note – SK Designs is donating $50 from each set of graphics/seat cover set sold this week to the bush fire charities and each complete kit comes with a cap.
The team will now focus on round 5, which is this coming weekend in Oakland.
Words: Penrite Honda Racing