The year was 2005, the rider was Cameron Taylor, and the bike was a YZ250F. Well, the year has changed, the rider has changed but the bike is still a Yamaha YZ250F and this weekend will look remarkably like the 2005 model Taylor raced back then.
This weekend at round six of the Penrite ProMX championship, Serco Yamaha machines of Rhys Budd and Jesse Dobson will recreate the look and vibe of 2005 with Cameron Taylor inspired race bikes.
Taylor won the MX Nationals, as it was known then, in the MX2 class for the Serco Yamaha team and was delighted to see his old bike come to life in 2023.
“It was cool to hear Gavin and the team were going to do a replica of my bike from 2005 and I was impressed when I first saw the photos,” Taylor explains. “Jonni in the graphics department did an awesome job to get the bike looking so close to my bike of that time despite how much different the 2023 bike looks from my 2005 bike. A lot has changed over the years, so they have nailed it to get the old look on the new bike.
“It’s hard to believe it was 17 years ago that I won the championship for Serco and it's cool that they are running it at the Toowoomba round as I recall it being a good round for myself and my teammate, Robbie Marshall. I think we were both on the podium that day.
“Hopefully Rhys and Jesse can match our results of 2005 and do the look of the bikes justice,” he laughs.
“I was only three years old at the time and didn’t even know what a YZ250F was,” begins current Serco Yamaha pilot, Rhys Budd. “But I think the bikes look cool and the retro round is always a bit of fun for everyone and its cool to see some of the designs the riders and teams come up with.
“Every time I walked into Serco, I see Cameron’s championship winning bike in the foyer from 2005 and it would be good to get a Budd bike in there one day with a number 1 plate on it,” he finishes.
Round six of the ProMX roars to life on Sunday morning at 8am at the picturesque Echo Valley circuit in Toowoomba. Budd and Dobson currently sit fourth and fifth in the MX2 championship respectively but looking to gain ground at the final three rounds.
Serco Steps Back to 2005
When looking for inspiration for the retro themed round of the 2023 ProMX championship, Serco Yamaha went back into their own archives and selected one of their own championship winning bikes from yesteryear.