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Empire Kawasaki racers take solid haul of points from Gillman ProMX round
Empire Kawasaki motocross racers Haruki Yokoyama and Cambell Williams focused on collecting as many points as possible at the Gillman, South Australia round of the Australian ProMX Championship.
In the highly-competitive MX2 class, Yokoyama finished the day in 12th, while Williams was initially awarded third overall after a determined performance in the MX3 field.
Still recovering from illness, Yokoyama and his 2023 Kawasaki KX250 put in a solid performance during qualifying to finish the session in ninth.
In the opening MX2 moto, the former Japanese national champion started on the cusp of the top 10 and stayed in that vicinity for most of the race on his way to a 10th-place result.
A mid-pack start to the second race saw Yokoyama have to work his way through the field into another 10th position, but afterwards he unfortunately received a four-position penalty, relegating him to P14 and 12th overall on the day.
With three rounds remaining in the series, Yokoyama is currently sitting 11th in the points.
“I had a bit of sickness leading up to this round and I wasn’t feeling 100 percent, so I’m happy to still finish healthy and pick up some decent points," Yokoyama reflected.
“I raced a round of the state titles at Gillman a couple of weeks ago and I really like this track, but I wish I could’ve got better starts and results today – the starts today made it hard for me to come through the pack.”
In the MX3 class, Williams and his 2023 Kawasaki KX250 began the day in convincing form, as he registered a third-fastest time in qualifying.
The teenager brought the same intensity into the opening race, where he scored a good start and crossed the finish-line in second place, before being relegated five positions for allegedly cutting the track.
The second race saw Williams get another good jump out of the gate, but he stalled his machine in the first turn and lost critical positions. Refusing to give up, he worked his way through the pack to a hard-fought P7 result and sixth overall for the day.
Heading into the final three rounds in Queensland, Williams is now fourth in the MX3 championship standings.
“I felt good coming into this weekend and I had a strong opening moto, but I received a penalty and was docked some positions. We plan to look further at what happened over this coming week," said Williams.
“In the second race I stalled in the first turn and had to come from a long way back, but we still left today with some solid points.
“We’re pretty close to second in the championship, and with three rounds left, anything can happen. I’m looking forward to bringing really good speed into the rest of the series and finishing strongly.”
The sixth round of the 2023 Australian ProMX Championship will be held at Toowoomba, Qld on 25 June.
2023 Australian ProMX Championship Rd5 Gillman, SA
MX2 results:
1. Wilson Todd 2. Nathan Crawford 3. Noah Ferguson 12. Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki)
MX3 results:
1. Jake Cannon 2. Byron Dennis 3. Kayd Kingsford 6. Cambell Williams (Empire Kawasaki)