It was the case of one good race and one bad race for the Yamalube Yamaha Team of Rhys Budd and Alex Larwood who both experienced some challenges at round three of the Pro MX, at Albury-Wodonga, over the weekend.
Media Information: 3 May 2022Both riders stepped up to take moto podiums on the day but weren’t able to stand on the box for the round overall as crashes from each rider proved costly on a day that saw plenty of movement on the championship table.
To watch the Yamalube Yamaha recap video: https://youtu.be/qDDSItrBz44
Rhys Budd was just over a lap from taking his first trip to the podium when he fell in a rut in the waning stages of race two. Budd finished a very respectable third in race one and was even leading the race for several laps before he clipped a downed rider and hit the dirt himself but he was back on the bike and able to snare a third place finish and a good haul of points.
But the latter stages of race two proved his real undoing as he was comfortably in fifth place with a few laps to run when he tipped over in rut and dropped the bike. The fall also caused some damage to his front brake which meant once he got going again, he wasn’t able to ride at full speed. As a result, he dropped to 10th place on the track and his 3-10 results left him in sixth place for the round.
Despite the tough day, he moved to fourth in the championship.
“I’m devastated,” Budd says dejectedly. “I had the podium position in my keeping and a got that rut wrong in that tight right hander and went down. I got back up but had already lost a few positions but when I got to the first jump, my hands guards had moved back onto my front brake so as soon as the front wheel went in the air, it locked up.
“So close, yet so far but this one’s on me and I will ensure that I learn from it and make myself better because of it. I will go home, re group and come back at the next round swinging determined to get back on the podium for a round.
“Thank you to the team for doing a great job again today and I promise that a podium is coming.”
Larwood also had one good race and one bad. The first race saw him fall heavily in the first turn as the 35-rider field fought over the same real estate. He was bashed from pillar to post as the bikes roared by and then gingerly got to his feet to assess the damage.
Nearly 30 seconds behind the pack, he remounted his bike and got back into the race. Despite a sore shoulder, he clawed his way back to 18th place and frustrated with what just went down.
Race two was all about redemption for Larwood and that’s exactly what he did. He rounded the first turn on two wheels and around 10th place but wouldn’t stay thee for long. He moved his way forward, passing riders on a track that everyone said was hard to pass. With 10 minutes to go, Larwood had moved into second and only championship leader, Wilson Todd was in front of him.
He whittled the lead down and was just around three seconds at some stages as they worked their way through the lapped riders but he was unable to get any closer. Larwood finished with 18-2 results and now holds down third in the championship.
“First turn crashes are part of what we do, and every rider will be involved in one at some point but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Larwood laments. “We all went in pretty deep, and a few bikes come together and I ended up going down and giving my shoulder a good hit. I was able to finish but the bike was pretty bent, so we needed to get a few things straightened out before race two.
“The boys got to work and the bike was sorted and I had my shoulder looked at so we were good to go for race two. I just needed to get some decent points back and not have the day turn into a total disaster.
“I made it through turn one and then lap one, so I was able to just settle down and ride my laps. I was pretty happy to finish in second and do some damage control in the points.”
“I made Nash and the Yamalube Team work a little harder today, so I thank the for it and look forward to getting after it at the next round over in Adelaide,” Larwood ends.
Pro MX Results
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Pro MX Results
MX2
1st Bailey Malikiewicz – 45
2nd Wilson Todd - 43
3rd Ryder Kingsford - 37
4th Liam Andrews - 34
5th Noah Ferguson - 31
6th Rhys Budd – 31 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
7th Jai Constantinou - 27
8th Alex Larwood – 26 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
9th Dylan Wills - 24
10th Jayce Cosford – 21
Championship Standings
1st Wilson Todd – 143
2nd Bailey Malkiewicz -118 (Yamaha)
3rd Alex Larwood – 110 (Yamaha)
4th Rhys Budd – 89 (Yamaha)
5th Ryder Kingsford – 83 (Yamaha)
6th Dylan Wills – 83
7th Jesse Dobson – 77 (Yamaha)
8th Liam Andrews - 73
9th Noah Ferguson - 68
10th Jai Constantinou - 68