18 Mar. 2024

POSITIVE START TO PROMX AT WONTHAGGI FOR RACELINE HUSQVARNA RACING TEAM

All three Raceline Husqvarna Racing Team riders have started the 2024 Australian ProMX Championship in positive fashion, with Rhys Budd, Jack Mather and Todd Waters finishing fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in their classes.

The series again got under way at the loamy, dark soil of Wonthaggi, and in the premier MX1 class, the experienced Waters got things under way with the ninth-fastest qualifying time.

Waters began the opening moto in 11th, but armed with his 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 450, he steadily chipped away at the riders ahead of him to work his way to P6 before the chequered flag greeted him.

In the second moto, Waters rounded the first turn in P10, and after a moto-long tussle, finished a consistent P9 and seventh overall. It was a welcome way to start the new season and one that he will look to build upon in the coming rounds.

In the MX2 class, title contender Budd on his 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 250 qualified fifth, then found himself near the head of the field early in the opening race. A couple of errors eventually saw him finish in ninth position.

Another strong start to the second moto saw Budd again in the mix early on in the race, and he was able to maintain a front-running position to finish P5 for fifth overall.

Rookie teammate Mather’s campaign got off to a convincing start as he qualified third-fastest aboard his 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 250. A confidence-building eighth-place result in the first moto saw him put in a similar performance to register a P7 result in the second encounter, and P6 for the weekend on debut in MX2.

Round two of the 2024 Australian ProMX Championship will take place at Horsham, VIC, on Sunday, April 7.

Todd Waters: "It was a tough one for me today. I'm struggling with a niggling injury in my neck, so I wanted to come here and get through it. My start to moto one wasn’t great and I had to charge through to finish P6, which wasn’t too bad for me. The last race was not for me and I struggled a lot in that one, both with myself and to gel with the bike. We’ve got some changes to make and I’ve got a lot of hard work to do before the next one. I can’t thank our team Raceline Husqvarna team enough for the countless hours they’ve put in and I owe them some good results, so I’m determined to get back up there."

Rhys Budd: "Today was a bit up-and-down for me. I went 9-5 moto scores for fifth overall, so I managed to turn it around somewhat in moto two. I rode a bit better and had some smarter lines. The whole day wasn’t amazing for me, but we’ll take a top-five and we’ll move on to round two."

Jack Mather: "It was a bit of a mixed day, but it ended up being alright results-wise. I felt I had more to give, but sixth overall is a good base to build off of and I’m looking forward to the future rounds and continuing to improve both the set-up for race day and myself."