Rhys Budd made another trip to the ProMX podium with a classy second place finish at round seven of the MX2 championship, held at Queensland Moto Park, over the weekend. The Yamalube Yamaha Racing rider sits second in the MX2 championship with one round to go but remains focused on continual improvement in his riding. He has proven to be a reliable and consistent racer throughout the year who is now knocking on the door of race wins.

To view the Yamalube Yamaha bLU cRU round recall: https://youtu.be/5iFNHa2fxXU

Budd was determined to shake off the cobwebs of the last couple of rounds where he narrowly missed the podium and came into the QMP round with a spring in his step following a win at the Queensland Motocross Championships the week before. 

He kicked things off on the right foot with P2 in qualifying which gave him second pick of the starting gate. With the rain on Saturday, a good gate selection was important as the track surface was wet and slippery for the opening 25-minute race of the day.

Budd gated well and slotted into second place behind the race leader, kaleb Barham. Budd kept looking for a way past but couldn’t find an opening and when he lunged at Barham at the bottom of the long uphill, he lost his drive and Nathan Crawford slipped by, relegating him to third. Crawford was then quick to move past Barham and take the lead.

That left Budd to deal with Barham and it came down to a desperate last lap that saw Budd drive his Yamaha around the outside of Barham and move into second place just three corners from the finish. 

Race two and Budd didn’t jump from the gate well and was tangled in a mess of bikes going into the first turn. Fortunately, he was able to stay on two wheels and round out the first lap inside the top ten. He was able to make a few passes as the race progressed and eventually came across the finish line in fifth place. His 2-5 results gave him second for the day and gain an extra 3 points in the championship chase over third place.

“It was good to get back on the podium here at QMP after a couple of tough rounds at Maitland and Coffs,” Budd explains. “I had a good lead up and the team rallied around me, and we were able to get some good results at a state event the weekend before and then carry that into the weekend.

“Race one was good, I just needed to get into the lead earlier. I had some opportunities and I didn’t make the most of them, so that’s something I can take from that race. The second one I didn’t get a good start at all then there were bikes going everywhere in the first turn. I think I seat bounced someone’s bike as it was on the track.

“Anyway, I was able to stay on and get myself into the top five and finish on the podium for the round. I still feel there is more to learn and improvements to be made and we will continue to try and make those steps forward, but a podium result is a good reward for the guys on the team and we will look to be better again next week at Coolum,” he ends.

The final round of the ProMX championship is set to run this weekend at the Coolum Pines circuit on the Sunshine Coast. The round always proves to be a popular one with the riders and teams as Coolum comes alive for the weekend.

PROMX RESULTS

QMP – MX2
1^st Nathan Crawford – 50
2^nd Rhys Budd – 38 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
3^rd Jesse Dobson – 35
4^th Bailey Malkiewicz – 33
5^th Levi Rogers – 31
6^th Kaleb Barham – 30
7^th Jayce Cosford – 28
8^th Haruki Yokoyama – 24
9^th Isaac Ferguson – 22
10^th Jai Constantinou – 21

MX2 Championship Standings
1^st Wilson Todd – 311
2^nd Rhys Budd – 233 (Yamaha YZ250F)
3^rd Jesse Dobson – 217 (Yamaha YZ250F)
4^th Bailey Malkiewicz – 207 (Yamaha YZ250F)
5^th Haruki Yokoyama – 187
6^th Noah Ferguson – 180
7^th Jai Constantinou – 147
8^th Alex Larwood – 132 (Yamaha YZ250F)
9^th Jayce Cosford – 126 (Yamaha YZ250F)
10^th Kaleb Barham – 126