The Yamalube Yamaha Racing duo of Alex Larwood and Jayce Cosford fought through a tough and eventful day at round three of the ProMX Championship to secure fifth and sixth respectively in the highly competitive MX2 division.
Round one 2019 was the last time the national motocross championship experienced a full mud event, until now. The Albury area received rain in the week prior to the event and then more overnight rain and the track was nothing short of a muddy mess with riders doing well to circulate given the conditions.To review the Yamalube Yamaha bLU cRU round review: https://youtu.be/rb2uziEV4YE
Both riders had shown glimpses of their true ability in the opening two rounds and the focus on this weekend within the team was to piece together a complete round of two solid motos. The day started well with both riders qualifying inside the top 10 when the track was at its best in terms of conditions and speed with Larwood in P-3 and Cosford in P-9.
Larwood made a meal of his start in race one and was left on the line as the field speed away, Given the amount of water on the start straight and in the opening turn, the poor start at least allowed him to keep his vision and stay well clear of the usual first turn chaos. He set off in pursuit of the field and by the later stages had clawed his way up to fifth place but he made some mistakes late on the very challenging circuit and dropped back to eighth by race end.
The second race saw him gate better and be inside the top five on the opening lap. He moved into fourth and then settled in for the next 20 minutes. With the front trio sneaking away and Wilson Todd slotting in behind, Larwood had to stay focused right to the end to lock down his fourth pace result and finish fifth on the day with 8-4 finishes.
“Today was a tough day for everyone and I’m pretty happy to get through both races with reasonable points and in good shape health wise,” Larwood begins.
“I have qualified well at the rounds so far and had one decent race, so I’m still looking for the complete day but I feel it’s coming and I’m headed in the right direction.
“Thanks to the team today as everyone had to chip in and work hard to get the bikes turned around from each time on the track. It was a hard slog for everyone at the truck, but the bikes were great both motos.”
Jayce Cosford had a standout performance in race one when he put his YZ250F into second place and never let it go. Cosford made the most of a good start and some quick passes on the opening laps to move into second place and then continued at a good pace to ensure a podium result. He had a scare on the final lap when he fell in a rut, but he had a huge gap over third place and had time to remount and finish in second for a equal career best moto result at the ProMX.
Race two and a mistimed start was the cause of Cosford lowly 16th place. He got showered in water and mud down the start straight, then with the a lack of vision fell on the opening lap. He stopped in for goggles on lap two and re-joined the race to work his way back to 16th place and rounded out the day in sixth place.
“It was an up and down day for me with a really good first moto but I made things hard for myself in race two. I rolled the dice on an inside start gate as I saw some other riders get a good start from there but I wasn’t able to make it work and suffered as a result. It’s something to learn from.
“the first moto was awesome and this was my first real mud race at this level. In the past as privateer, I probably wouldn’t have raced as I don’t have the money or the ability to reprepare a bike again but I showed I can get around and just need to make a couple of smarter decisions to make the most of my speed in conditions like this.
“Thanks to Joel, Nash and Mike for putting in the hard yards. The bikes were a mess after each race but they got them and our gear back into shape and through each moto with no problems.”
In the MX3 class, The GYTR Yamaha team were out in full force with four riders flying the flag for the team with Kobe Drew, Koby Hantis, Seth Burchell and Jake Cannon all contesting the round. Jake Cannon led the way for the team finishing the day in fourth place with 1-10 results on the difficult and challenging track. Cannon dominated the first race but a fall while leading race two leaving his bike stuck in the mud put paid to a round victory.
Kobe Drew finished the day in eighth after a strong fifth place in moto two, Burchell and Hantis were in 11th and 14th respectively.
The boys are back in action at the ProMX at round four in Maitland on May 6 and 7.
ProMX Results
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ProMX Results
Round Three – Albury
MX2
1st Brodie Connelly – 45
2nd Kayden Minear – 38
3rd Wilson Todd – 36
4th Kaleb Barham – 33
5th Alex Larwood – 31 (Yamaha)
6th Jayce Cosford – 27 (Yamaha)
7th Nathan Crawford – 25
8th Rhys Budd – 24 (Yamaha)
9th Liam Andrews – 24
10th Hayden Smith - 23
MX2 Championship Standings
1st Wilson Todd – 105
2nd Brodie Connelly – 97
3rd Kayden Minear – 85
4th Nathan Crawford – 75
5th Kaleb Barham – 72
6th Rhys Budd – 66 (Yamaha)
7th Jayce Cosford – 64 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
8th Alex Larwood – 64 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
9th Jesse Dobson – 60 (Yamaha)
10th Liam Andrews - 60