28 year old, Rhys Carter hails from Mount Maunganui in New Zealand and will cross the Tasman Sea to line up in the premier MX1 class with his Kawasaki KX450F. With over 25 years of riding experience, Carter has multiple marks on his shoulder, including being selected to represent New Zealand in Motocross Des Nations and receiving an AMA Motocross Top Privateer award during his stint in United States last year.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to race in Australia again and battle with the guys over there,” emphasised Carter.
“I like the scenery, the people and working with Jess and Jay Foreman. I’ve worked with them closely in the past and it was a pleasure. To be working closely with a manufacturer overseas is a big thing for me as well and thanks to the team owner, Sean Dyson for having belief in me,” Carter said.
Rhys is familiar with green machines courtesy of jointly managing and racing for the Kawasaki supported 3Twenty3 Racing Team in New Zealand over the past couple of years, in between coaching younger talent as a form of giving back to the sport that he cherishes.
Competing alongside Carter will be Aaron Tanti in the MX2 class with his KX250F. The 21 year old from Silverdale in NSW was a Junior Lites Supercross champion in 2012 and has previously represented Australia in the 2013 Czech Republic round of the Junior Motocross World titles. Aaron stepped away from racing due to injury in the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship, however he is now fighting fit and poised to make an impact in 2018 MX Nationals.
“I get to operate with some great guys like Jay and Jess foreman who have worked with champions, so it’s a great opportunity for me to develop as a rider and I’m so keen to ride the KX250F,” said Tanti.
“Last year was one of my most terrible years. I was injured in the MX Nationals and I had a practice injury that put me out for the rest of the season. With about 4 weeks of training before Supercross, I was doing pretty well in the start but had to pull out from another injury. Since then I’ve been doing a lot of rehab and training so I am more than ready and feeling pumped for this year.”
Rounding out the team will be young gun, Dylan Wood who re-enters the MXD class in 2018, with a winning attitude and an idea to take his KX250F to the top step in every race.
“I’m going to grab it with both hands and run as far as I can take it to give it my best shot!” exclaimed Wood.
“I raced a few MX Nationals rounds at the end of 2016, which gave me an idea of where I was at with the competition. I started working with Dyson Motorsports in the 2017 MX and SX championships which went really well and now we are at this stage so I am really looking forward to it and it’s something I’ve dreamt about since I was very young.”
“I have ridden Kawasaki motorcycles all the way from 65s to my last year in Juniors and I’ve been riding the 2018 KX250F for the last few weeks now, it is the best thing I’ve ridden to date, it is unbelievable!” said the 17 year old from Singleton, NSW.
Jess Foreman will be managing the team with assistance from Jay Foreman, offering some of the greatest experience the Australian motocross and supercross landscape has to offer, saying, “This year is shaping up to be very promising. We have remarkable talent on board, the finest Kawasaki machinery and a transporter that will give us substantial presence at the track, so we are looking forward to chasing that podium every time the gate drops.”
Kawasaki backed Dyson Motorsports is now primed for the first round of the 2018 MX Nationals, set to take place in April.
