Larwood Lands on Podium as Budd Makes Ground

Media Information: 11 April 2022

Alex Larwood continued his great start to the season with another podium result, finishing second for the round while Rhys Budd improved considerably from round one to take fifth in a positive day for the team.

To view a round recap: https://youtu.be/6ffGNOJGyIw

It was a lion-hearted effort from 18year old Alex Larwood. In the days coming off a second-place finish at the opening round, Larwood fell in a training incident and broke his collarbone. Just nine days ago, he had a plate inserted so he would be able to compete at the Gum Valley round.

And compete he did. He finished the day in second place with 2-4 results and showed he has as much determination as he does skill. Race one saw him charge through the pack after an average start that had him just inside the top 10 on the opening lap. As the race settled, he began his move forward and picked off riders one by one. Then with just a few minutes left on the clock, he hit the after burners and rocketed through to a second-place finish and just a few seconds from the leader.

The second 25-minute race was much the same in the opening stages as he worked his way forward after another average start. He moved into fourth and began to close in on the top three before he has a small tip over in the back section of the track. Wisely, he was able to remount, not lose a position and settle into fourth knowing that it would give him second for the round.

“Another awesome day today here at Mackay and happy to be on the podium again,” he begins. “I was gutted when I fell off last week and thought I would have to miss this round but the doctors did a great job and apart from some rubbing on the scar, the collarbone didn’t bother me too much during racing.

“My starts were a little off today and something I need to get sorted but otherwise I was happy with my riding and the team did a great job with the bike.

“The Gum Valley track was awesome so thank you to everyone involved in the event and to the crowd that showed up today,” Larwood ends.

After a disappointing round one, Rhys Budd bounced back with a positive day at round two, narrowly missing the podium by a single point. Rhys was determined to get his season back on track and he was able to do that with 3-7 results and claw himself back into good position in the championship.

Budd sliced through the field on the opening lap of race one and into second place. He shadowed race leader, Wilson Todd, for the next 20 minutes remaining just a few seconds behind and keeping the pressure on the former GP rider. In the waning moments, he come under attack from teammate, Larwood, but finished an impressive third place in a much-needed confidence boost for him.

The second race saw him fight all the way to the finish to take seventh. He was in a close battle fighting over fifth place and to secure the final podium spot. He finished the day on 34 points, equal fourth but given fifth on countback and just one point from third.

“Moto one was great, and it felt good to be back up front again and fighting for race wins. I kept Wilson in sight all race and was just the moto I needed to get things rolling. Moto two wasn’t great but as a day it was much improved over round one and a feel like things are coming around for me. 

“The next few tracks are good for me, so I hope to build from the momentum here and get myself on the podium and up in the championship fight,” he said. 

Larwood consolidated his second place in the championship while Budd jumped up to sixth after two rounds. The Pro MX Championship now moves to Albury for round three on May 1.