The opening round of the 2025 Penrite ProMX Championship, presented by AMX Superstores, produced a weekend of spectacular competition, as the brutal Victorian circuit of Wonthaggi proved again to have the final say.

A late crash by defending MX1 champion Kyle Webster saw his main rival Jed Beaton take a handy points advantage from the first round, while Honda riders Brodie Connolly and Charli Cannon continue to assert their dominance in the MX2 and MXW categories.

On a stunning day that boasted near-perfect racing conditions, Ky Woods and Seth Thomas also opened their MX3 and MX85 accounts with clean sweeps in their respective classes.

Round one of the ProMX Championship is supported by the Victorian Government via its Significant Sporting Events Program and the Bass Coast Shire Council.

Related:
ProMX Wonthaggi event program
2025 Penrite ProMX opens with a roar at Wonthaggi

Kawasaki MX1

The 2025 campaign of Monster Energy CDR Yamaha rider Jed Beaton got off to a dream start at Wonthaggi. Not only did he claim the Kawasaki MX1 round win, but Webster gifted him a strong early points lead after suffering a DNF in the second moto.

The title favourites Beaton and Webster (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) traded intense blows during the AMX Superstores MX1 Pole Shootout, with the Yamaha rider getting the better of defending champion Webster.

Beaton clocked a scorching lap time of 1:43.335, just 0.22s quicker than Webster, while KTM Racing Team’s Kirk Gibbs jumped up to third late in the session.

KTM Racing Team’s Nathan Crawford registered the fourth-fastest time, with Repco Honda Racing rider Wilson Todd fifth.

Webster grabbed the holeshot in the opening MX1 moto of the season and tried to run and hide as Beaton quickly scrambled from a P5 start into second.

The pair gapped the field and duelled all race, but Webster held on to win by just one second. Monster Energy CDR Yamaha’s Maximus Purvis finished a distant third, while Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki rider Luke Clout and Todd completed the top five.

A dramatic turn of events in the final MX1 moto saw Beaton take a wire-to-wire win and a sizable 10-point lead in the championship fight when Webster crashed out midway through the race.

Beaton jumped to the holeshot, and with Webster chasing hard, they stretched out a big gap over the rest of the field. Unfortunately, Webster had a big crash on the fifth lap, and even though he was able to remount, he pulled into the pits and DNF’d.

Beaton suddenly had a massive advantage over the rest of the pack, but he refused to settle and kept hammering to a 41.5-second win over Crawford and Gibbs. Recovering from an early error, Clout finished a distant fourth but comfortably ahead of Todd Waters (Raceline Husqvarna Racing Team).

Beaton’s 2-1 result saw him top the round podium, with Crawford (6-2) in second and Clout (4-4) third overall. Webster finished 10th overall.

Pirelli MX2

Polyflor Honda Racing’s Brody Connolly couldn’t have wished for a better start to his title defence, dominating qualifying, then clean-sweeping the two Pirelli MX2 motos.

When the gate dropped on the first race, Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha’s Ryder Kingsford led the pack through the first turn, but the defending champion Connolly tore past him just seconds later to secure the lead.

Kingsford hung tough throughout the race, but the Kiwi steadily built a gap before taking the opening moto win by 7.5 seconds.

Honda-mounted Alex Larwood put in a solid ride to finish third, while KTM Racing Team’s Byron Dennis got the better of his team-mate Noah Ferguson late in the race to take P4.

The second moto saw almost a carbon copy of the opening moto from a results’ perspective. Ferguson scored the holeshot on his new KTM, but a mistake shortly after saw him buried well back in the field as Connolly took control.

Kingsford tried desperately to stay close to the Honda rider for the first half of the moto, but Connolly wouldn’t falter around the chopped-up track and stretched his buffer to take a 15.3- second victory.

Larwood put in another consistent race to finish third, as Dennis and Ryan Alexanderson (Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki) claimed P4 and P5. Ferguson put in an impressive charge to work his way back to P6 after his early mistake.

When the dust settled, Connolly (1-1), Kingsford (2-2) and Larwood (3-3) stood on the round podium.

MAXXIS MX3

After receiving a penalty in yesterday’s qualifying, Monster Energy WBR Yamaha rider Ky Woods was hungry for redemption and left the Victorian track with a dominant round win in the MAXXIS MX3 class.

Pro Honda-backed rider Kayd Kingsford beat the field through the first turn as the championship got under way, but it didn’t take long for Woods to snatch the lead.

Woods controlled the race from the front to take a 10.4-second lead over Kingsford, while Honda rider Jet Alsop rounded out the top three.

Kayden Strode (Honda) and Jackson Fuller (KTM) finished fourth and fifth, while yesterday’s top qualifier, Seth Morrow (Honda), finished the moto in P6.

Kingsford again holeshot the second and final MX3 race, but Woods soon took command around the progressively technical Wonthaggi circuit.

From that point it was a matter of Woods trying to maintain the gap over a relentless Kingsford, and a composed performance saw him take the win by 5.5 seconds over his Honda rival.

Alsop finished a lonely race in P3, while Fuller and Seth Shackleton filled the remaining spots in the top five.

Woods’ brace of wins saw him claim the round win from Kingsford (2-2) and Alsop (3-3).

EZILIFT MXW

The MXW class was all about SCT Logistics Honda Racing’s Charli Cannon, with a perfect weekend of racing seeing her take maximum points for both the EZILIFT MXW Championship and Team Australia.

The second women’s race was purely for FIM Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup points, with the four five-rider teams lining up to do battle.

Australian team captain Cannon remained unbeatable – she accelerated to a great holeshot and checked out on the rest of the field. Despite a low-side on the last lap, the Queenslander would finish a massive 1:30 ahead of fellow Australian Taylah McCutcheon.

McCutcheon (Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki) was able to capitalise on a late crash by American Lachlan Turner (Altus Motorsports BluCru Yamaha) to take P2 and also bank valuable points for Team Australia.

Team USA’s Jordan Jarvis (Yamaha) completed the race podium, ahead of a fast-finishing Taylor Thompson (KTM) and Team New Zealand’s Karaitiana Horne (Kawasaki).

Cannon was again unstoppable in the final MXW moto, taking the lead early from holeshot winner Kyleigh Stallings (Kawasaki) and stretching out another immense lead, finishing 57 seconds ahead of Turner.

Another pair of American racers – Jarvis and Mikayla Nielsen (Honda) crossed the finish-line in third and fourth, with McCutcheon completing the top five.

In the round points, Cannon comfortably secured the top spot on the podium, joined by Turner and Jarvis inside the top three.

Cannon’s domination helped Australia to a successful FIM Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup victory, with the home team beating Team USA by just two points, followed by Team New Zealand third and FIM Africa fourth.

Fox Racing MX85 Cup

Fresh off topping qualifying and winning the opening Fox Racing MX85 moto yesterday, GASGAS rider Seth Thomas resumed his winning ways today to complete a perfect weekend.

Sidney Stephenson (GASGAS) captured his second holeshot of the meet when the gate dropped on moto two, but Thomas quickly jumped into the lead with Blake Bohannon (Yamaha) on his heels.

The pair gapped the rest of the field, but Thomas’s relentless pace saw him build a 14-second lead before the checkered flag fell. A further 47 seconds down the track, Zander Kruik (KTM) recovered well to finish P3, as Connor Feather (Husqvarna) and Nico Verhoeven (KTM completed the top five.

The 1-1 scorecard saw Thomas take the round win, as Bohannon (2-2) wrapped up second and Deegan Fort (3-6) took the final spot on the round podium.

The second round of the 2025 Penrite ProMX Championship, presented by AMX Superstores, will be held in Appin, NSW, on 13 April. Get your tickets here.

Images: Foremost Media