In what were treacherous conditions for round three of the 2023 Australian ProMX Championship, 15-year-old sensation Kayden Minear earned his first-career professional podium overall in the MX2 Class, as MX1 mainstay Kirk Gibbs finished the Wodonga round in third overall.
Qualifying seventh, the young West Australian Minear launched to a strong start in the opening moto, keeping his KTM 250 SX-F upright on route to a fifth-place finish. With the conditions drying, Minear posted a calculated ride in the second encounter to secure P2 behind teammate Nathan Crawford, which resulted in second overall on the day.
It was a trying day for the 199 of Crawford, who experienced an unfortunate DNF in the opening moto, before storming back in commanding fashion for the second moto victory and salvaging P7 overall. The motivated Queenslander now sets his sights on Maitland as the quest continues for his maiden MX2 crown.
The MX1 category took to the Wodonga circuit as the conditions intensified, with intermittent rain presenting riders with a challenging surface in regional Victoria. Despite those challenges, former national champion Gibbs staked his claim as a contender in this year’s series, piloting his KTM 450 SX-F to a 5-3 moto scorecard for an impressive third overall.
Gibbs now sits second in the MX1 championship leaderboard, only a handful of points from the lead, whilst Minear catapulted his way to third in the MX2 standings, one position ahead of Crawford.
The 2023 Australian ProMX Championship now heads to Maitland, New South Wales, for round four between 6-7 of May.
Kirk Gibbs: "I'm obviously really happy with the podium and the end result, but it was a tough day today – the conditions were crazy and it really was just about survival. Overall, I'm satisfied to come out of here with some good points and land on the podium after being so close at Appin, so we're excited to take this thing on to Maitland in a few weeks' time."
Kayden Minear: "Really good round out here at Wodonga, and I felt awesome on the bike all day. I'm just so happy with my first MX2 podium! The mud definitely made it tricky, although good starts helped me out a lot today. Had some great battles in the second moto, but yeah, the 250 SX-F is so good, the KTM Racing Team has been so helpful and I'm excited to see how we go in the next one."
Nathan Crawford: "It was a bittersweet day in Wodonga today for round three of the championship. We had a DNF in the opening moto, and then came out and won the second moto, which was obviously really good, though it makes the non-finish a really hard pill to swallow. Happy to regroup with the first place in the second moto though – I’m in good shape, the bikes handling well and getting good starts – so yeah, time to knuckle down for Maitland."