In a rare and never to forget weekend, The WBR Yamaha crew finished 1-2-3 in the MX3 class and owned the podium at the opening round of the 2024 ProMX Championship held at Wonthaggi.and kicked off their 2024 campaign in the best possible fashion. The race results of the team saw finish race one in 2-4-5 and then a stunning 1-2-3 result in moto two.
Koby Hantis claimed a sensational round victory, overcoming a pre-season injury to finish with 4-1 results and take the MX3 red plate into round two. Hantis, who moved to Queensland in the off season for his racing, looked solid all day and then hit the after burners at the mid-way stage of moto two, to charge his way to the front and then clear out to an eight second lead by race end.
The round victory is undoubtedly a career high for Hantis and was justifiably stoked with the result.
“I had an injured wrist which took some time to get over and slowed my pre-season down a little but the last couple of weeks, things have started to click and I have been feeling really good on the bike.
“I knew fitness would be a big factor at this track, so I worked hard on that and I think that was the main reason I was able to get the win was because I stayed strong at the end of both races.
“Thanks to the WBR Yamaha team, its awesome to have so much support around me, my Dad for everything he does as well as Ford Dale for his coaching and advice. Its an awesome way to start the season and I’m still a bit shocked, to be honest,” Hantis ends.
Just one point behind Hantis, was teammate Kobe Drew. Drew finished with 2-3 results on the weekend and ran up front all day long. It was the start Drew needed for his championship hopes as the Wonthaggi circuit hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for the quiet, Queensland based rider.
“The goal was to get on the podium and ride good laps without too many mistakes, so it was good to be able to make that happen as I know this track is tough to ride and any mistakes can be costly,” Drew offers.
“My starts were pretty good in both motos and that makes life easier, I just needed to hustle a bit harder towards the end of the last race. But a good start to the year and its unreal that the whole team is on the podium here,” Drew said.
The moto one performance of Kayd Kingsford was nothing short of impressive. Kingsford charged his way to the lead on the opening lap and was looking to check out when he had a spectacular fall and was ejected from his YZ250F. He remounted well down the field and a long, long way behind the top ten.
With a full forty rider field, Kingsford had a lot of work to do to get himself back into the points, but he rode like a man possessed and ripped his way through the pack. That charge took him all the way back to fifth at race end and then paired with his second place in race two, it was enough to see him secure third spot on the podium.
“I qualified first which was a great way to start the day, so I know my speed was good, I just needed to not make any mistakes, so I was furious with myself when I crashed in the first race while I was leading. I got going, had no idea where I was, didn’t look at my pit board and just tried to pass anyone who was in front of me.
“So to get back to fifth and have a consistent race in moto two was good and I’m happy with third on the day. The Team did an awesome job and to was cool to have us all on the podium as we have all raced each other for a long time now. Hopefully as a team we can keep it going for the next few rounds,” Kingsford said.
The next stop on the ProMX tour is Horsham, for round two on April 7
