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EMPIRE KAWASAKI SCORES DUAL MX2 PODIUMS AT MAITLAND
Empire Kawasaki racers put in some of their best performances of the year in the fifth round of the 2022 Australian ProMX Championship at Maitland, NSW on Sunday, with both Haruki Yokoyama and Jai Constantinou featuring on moto podiums in MX2.
Japanese sensation Yokoyama broke through for his first race podium in the opening moto, as he continues to gain experience racing in Australia.
After running third early before making a mistake, Yokoyama and his KX250 were able to capitalise on some mistakes from his rivals to gain his maiden third-place finish.
In the second encounter, Yokoyama was held up in a first-turn crash and restarted at the back of the pack, working his way forward to finish an impressive 10th. His results saw him finish the day in fifth overall and he’s moved to seventh in the points chase.
“It’s a pretty big step for me to finish third and there are lots of positives to take from this weekend," Yokoyama reflected. "Despite getting held up in the crash at the start of the second moto and having to come from the back of the pack, I felt I rode well – better than I did in the first race – and my lap-times were good. It was a good day for me to finish in the top five overall.”
For Constantinou, Maitland proved a tough round to master, although he was able to put the day’s challenges behind him to finish an impressive third in the final MX2 race. After putting in his best qualifying result of the year in P7, the Victorian went down twice early in the opening race to finish the moto in 12th.
A good start to the second outing saw him jump to the front of the pack early and, despite a mid-race tip-over, was able to work his way back through the front-runners to finish a hard-fought third. Constantinou’s 12-3 scorecard saw him finish the day in sixth overall and move up to 11th in the standings.
“I’m really happy with my riding today, especially in that second race," he commented. "I initially rode a bit tight as I hadn’t been up there all year, but I felt like I reset after a small crash and I rode like I know how to. It was good to put in a good result in that moto after a bit of an up-and-down day.”
In the MX1 class, Western Australian Jayden Rykers had a tough day on his way to 14th overall. Aboard the KX450, Rykers struggled to come to terms with the slick, hard-packed circuit in qualifying, but a good jump off the gate in the opening race saw him race as high as seventh before settling back to eighth.
Unfortunately, a DNF in the second moto saw him have to pull off the circuit in the early stages, although he remains seventh in the MX1 championship fight.
“It was a tough day to travel so far and end up with those results," Rykers said. "The first moto wasn’t bad – I was able to stay with the front guys for the early stages, but need to work on maintaining that for the whole duration. In the second moto, something happened and I wasn't able to continue. We don’t know what it is just yet, but we’ll come back stronger at Coffs Harbour.”
2022 ProMX Rd5 Maitland, NSW
MX1 results: 1. Aaron Tanti 2. Matt Moss 3. Todd Waters 13. Jayden Rykers (Empire Kawasaki)
MX2 results: 1. Wilson Todd 2. Jesse Dobson 3. Noah Ferguson 5. Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki) 6. Jai Constantinou (Empire Kawasaki)
The sixth round of the 2022 Australian ProMX Championship will be held at Coffs Harbour, NSW on Sunday, 24 July.