Your weekly racing update from Yamaha Motor Australia
Dirty in DarwinThe MXGP of Australia rolled into Darwin for the second time and Yamaha Australia again put its support behind the event. Yamaha Motor Australia assisted with a financial package to the promoters and the Northern Territory government as well as assisting Yamaha riders to attend the event with freight and travel costs.
A list of domestic and international Yamaha stars contested the event from Lachlan Turner making a whirlwind trip from the US, Souya Nakajima coming over after spending the last month training in New Zealand as well as junior stars Blake Bohannon and Jobe Dunne. Add to that, Madi Simpson, Levi Rogers, Hayden Downie plus a merchandise area and Yamaha had the biggest presence of any local manufacturer.
On track, the event starts with the interstate challenge for the junior riders, and both Blake Bohannon and Jobe Dunne played starring roles. After a couple of rounds of ProMX mixing it up with the big boys in the MX3 class, the world champ was back on his YZ85 for Darwin and didn’t miss a beat.
Bohannon won all four motos over the course of the weekend, and by some impressive margins. He took control of each race in the opening corners and then just motored off into the distance. It was the perfect performance from Bohannon and led his New South Wales team to victory in the interstate challenge.
The talented youngster now heads over to France to race this Yamaha BLU CRU YZ Superfinale in conjunction with the MXoN. Bohannon won at this event in 2024 on a YZ65, was third in 2025 on a YZ85, and will step up to a YZ125 for this year’s race.
Jobe Dunne also showed good form and claimed second in the MX3 division. Dunne finished with 3-2-3-2 results to share the points with fellow Yamaha rider, Hayden Downie, but his better finish in the final moto gave Dunne second for the event and a good confidence boost going into the Australian Junior Nationals in Shepparton next week.
Lachlan Turner returned down under to race the MXGP after a successful year that has included winning the AMA WMX championship for the third time as well as winning the MXW ProMX Championship. She was keen to add a MXGP round victory to that list.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the weekend she wanted, but it proved to be a huge learning experience for her. The MXGP circuit is different to what she races in Australia or the USA. The tracks shape up differently, the format of the weekend is different, the length of the races is different and there is more depth in the competition with many of the MXW competitors battle hardened and experienced at racing at such a high level.
She struggled to gel with the track in the early sessions and while she qualified in fourth place, didn’t feel great on the bike. She then experienced more issues on the first lap of moto one when she hit the rear of another rider and went down and picked herself up a distant last. She motored her way back to sixth place, before falling again and was forced to settle for an uncharacteristic eighth place.
But Sunday dawned and Turner was desperate to finish the weekend on a positive note. She charged from the gate and led the field into the first turn. She then laid down some hot laps and cleared out to a six second lead by the halfway stage. But the heat and the longer races began to take its toll, and Daniela Giullen began to chip away at her lead.
With two laps to go, the new world champ was on the rear tyre of Turner and was able to make a pass for the lead. Turner stayed in the fight and the pair were just over two seconds apart at the finish with Turner in second place and huge turnaround from a day earlier proving she is a fast learner.
Her 8-2 results gave Turner fourth for the round.
“I didn’t ride well on Friday or Saturday and I didn’t feel great on the bike or the track,” Turner explains. “The team made some changes to the bike, and it was good on Sunday, and I felt more like myself.
“I do need to work on my fitness as this race is nearly double the length of what we race in the US, and I got tired towards the end. So, while I didn’t win or even get on the podium, I learned a lot and I have things I need to improve on and would love to come back and do a few more GP’s and continue to get better,” Turner ends.
It was a tough race day for Souya Nakajima. At the conclusion of the ProMX series, Nakajima headed over to New Zealand to work with Josh Coppins before returning to Australia to race Darwin, this time on a 450.
Things were going well and he was improving his time and gap to the front runners every time he was on the track, but things came to a halt in the first turn of race one.
Nakajima hit the back of another rider and feel awkwardly. He hit the ground and then was struck by a rider following him. He was assisted from the track and taken to the RACESAFE medical unit where the elected to send him to Hospital for some precautionary scans on his hip, chest and head.
The scans have come back clear and despite a sore hip and a slight concussion, Nakajima was released and has headed back to Japan to heel up.
“The rider in front of me made a mistake or slowed up and my front wheel hit his back wheel and I crashed. Then I was run over and was in a bit of pain.
“Thankfully, I’m just a bit battered and sore and will be ok in a few days with some rest.
“Sorry to the team for letting them down and to my mechanic Masa who put in so much work for this event.”