It was a red-letter day for the Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team at the final round of the 2022 Penrite ProMX with Charli Cannon winning the Women’s championship while Rhys Budd locked down second in the MX2 division.In perfect conditions and on one of Australia’s toughest motocross tracks, Coolum Pines, the Yamalube duo of Cannon and Budd both stood on the podium for the round and the championship in a strong finish to the series for both riders.

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Charli Cannon has been a revelation in season 2022 and her domination continued on the weekend as she laid out another comprehensive performance that saw the 17 year old win both WMX motos and take the 2022 Women’s ProMX Championship undefeated.

Some nerves got the better of her in race one and she jumped to soon at the start and slammed her front wheel into the starting gate before it dropped. She was able to pull back and get clear but not before the entire field had raced off. Within the first lap, she was back to second, then by the midway point, back in the lead and she raced off into the distance.

Race two was more like we have come to expect from Cannon. It was a clear holeshot, lead every lap and take the race win. She did by nearly 30 seconds. That gave her the perfect six wins from six starts in the WMX season and her star continues to be on the rise.

“The weekend has been a little overwhelming with so much going on,” she begins. “Friday we had a women’s rider day, Saturday was qualifying and race one, Sunday was race two and with this being my local track, I had so many friends and family out to support me.

“I was a bit jumpy before race one and I thought I saw the gate move, so I gassed it, but I just ploughed straight into it so that was a little embarrassing but once I was going, things were back to normal and I was able to ride my way to the front.

“The second race was more about dealing with the track. It was rough out there and this track can get you if you don’t stay focussed so I kept my mind on the job and was able to get another race win.

“It feels good to win this championship and I must thank ProMX, Motorcycling Australia and all the girls that entered the rounds for making it happen. It’s been a great series and hopefully it can continue to grow, and we can get more girls involved and keep it progressing.

“It’s been amazing to be with Yamaha again this year and the Yamalube Yamaha team have been so good to me. I can’t thank them enough for the effort they go to for my racing with Mike and Nash always making sure I have everything I need and my bikes are perfect.

“And I must mention all the people who bought a jersey on the weekend and raised money for me to go to Turkey next week. I still can’t believe people will do that for me and I’m so grateful for what they did for me and my family today,” Cannon says emotionally.

Rhys Budd continued his good form from recent weeks making another trip to the podium for the round as well as one for the series. Coming off a second-place result at QMP last weekend, Budd was in second place in the championship, 16 points clear of Jesse Dobson and another 10 ahead of Bailey Malkiewicz. But neither of those two riders are slouches around the Coolum track so Budd new he would have to work hard for his results this weekend.

He charged to third place finish in race one, then a fourth-place finish in race two giving him 38 points and third for the round. With Dobson unable to finish the day due to injury and equally the points of Malkiewicz on the day, Budd claimed second place for the MX2 championship for the year, one spot ahead of his 2021 result.

“I had put a lot of pressure on myself this week to make sure I got the job done and it was a huge relieve to lock down second place after race one,” Budd explains. “I worked hard over the past month to try and improve a few things so to be able to finish the last two rounds on the podium as well as finish second for the championship is a good outcome and one that I’m proud of.

“My back is cooked after that last race as the track is rough and you are constantly working the bike in the sand. I pushed myself to the end of both races and I really wanted to get past Bailey in the last one, but I just couldn’t make it happen.

“Thanks to the Yamalube Yamaha Team for everything they do and our team sponsors who give us the opportunity to do what we love. It was also good to have my whole family here to support me and it means a lot to all of us to get a result like this.

“I might take a week or two off and then start work on supercross as I’m looking forward to racing the Australian Supercross Championship, starting in October,” he said.

PROMX RESULTS

Coolum – MX2
1^st Nathan Crawford – 47
2^nd Bailey Malkiewicz – 38
3^rd Rhys Budd – 38 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
4^th Jayce Cosford – 34
5^th Jai Constantinou – 31
6^th Noah Ferguson – 30
7^th Isaac Ferguson -27
8^th Levi Rogers – 25
9^th Hugh McKay – 24
10^th Ben Novak – 22

Coolum – WMX
1^st Charli Cannon – 50 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
2^nd Taylah McCutcheon – 44
3^rd Maddy Brown – 36
4^th Megan Rutledge – 36
5^th Emma Milesevic – 36
6^th Maddi Healey – 30
7^th Danielle Foot – 27
8^th Tahlia Drew – 25
9^th Aimee Roberts – 22
10^th Ebony Harris – 18

MX2 – Final Championship Standings
1^st Wilson Todd – 311
2^nd Rhys Budd –  271 (Yamaha YZ250F)
3^rd Bailey Malkiewicz –245 (Yamaha YZ250F)
4^th Jesse Dobson – 217  (Yamaha YZ250F)
5^th Noah Ferguson – 210
6^th Haruki Yokoyama – 203
7^th Jai Constantinou – 177
8^th Jayce Cosford – 160 (Yamaha YZ250F)
9^th Hugh McKay –  146 (Yamaha YZ250F)
10^th Kaleb Barham – 146

MXW- Final Championship Standings
1^st Charli Cannon – 150 (Yamaha YZ250F)
2^nd Emma Milesevic – 124
3^rd Maddy Brown – 116
4^th Maddi Healey – 96
5^th Danielle Foot – 84
6^th Amie Roberts – 84
7^th Taylah McCutcheon – 80
8^th Tahlia Drew – 66
9^th Amy Bartsch – 59
10^th Holli Greeves – 54