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Solid ProMX Season Start for Empire Kawasaki
Empire Kawasaki built a solid foundation for the season ahead as the gates dropped on the 2022 ProMX Championship at Wonthaggi, VIC, on Sunday, 27 March.
In the MX2 category, Jai Constantinou went 7-7 for a confidence-inspiring P6 overall at round one and he improved dramatically on his qualifying position when the racing commenced.
"I'm happy with my weekend, excited to be back racing and get round one out of the way," Constantinou commented. "I had a crash in moto one and then my start in moto two was near-last, but I came through the pack well and it's a good starting point, so looking forward to what's next in the championship."
It was also a convincing debut at the national level in Australia for Japanese racer Haruki Yokoyama, powering his KX250 to a remarkable fifth position in the opening moto of the year.
Yokoyama was P9 in the second outing, resulting in seventh for the weekend. Like Constantinou, it was a significant turnaround after being further back in qualifying earlier, but one that signals his arrival towards the front of the MX2 class.
"My first race in Australia was really good," Yokoyama said. "Qualifying 14th wasn't the best, but I had a good start and ended up getting fifth in moto one, so I was really happy. In the second one, I was comfortable in seventh, but a couple of guys passed me and I ended up ninth. My goal was top 10 and I'm really happy to get seventh!"
Sole Empire Kawasaki MX1 class entry Jayden Rykers returns for another season and was also encouraged by his early form aboard the KX450. He qualified ninth and matched that result in moto one, before going P8 in moto two for eighth place on the day.
"Had a relatively good weekend, ninth in qualifying and then my start in moto one made life a little bit hard," Rykers recalled. "I fought back to ninth and in the second moto I was a little better for eighth, so it's something to work on and we will come back better at round two."
The 2022 Australian ProMX Championship will continue in Mackay, QLD, on Sunday, 10 April, where the Empire Kawasaki team will look to continue its strong start to the eight-round series.
2022 ProMX Rd1 Wonthaggi, VIC
MX1 results:
1. Luke Clout 2. Aaron Tanti 3. Todd Waters 8. Jayden Rykers (Empire Kawasaki)
MX2 results:
1. Wilson Todd 2. Alex Larwood 3. Jesse Dobson 6. Jai Constantinou (Empire Kawasaki) 7. Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki)