WBR Yamaha’s Koby Hantis kept his grip on the MX3 points leader red plate after a hard fought third place at round two of the Penrite ProMX Championship at Horsham on the weekend.
The WBR Yamaha team were back to full strength with Seth Burchell back behind the gate and joining Koby Hantis, Kayd Kingsford and Kobe Drew in a four-pronged attack in the MX3 class. The class caters for riders between the ages of 14 and 18 ,on board 250cc four stroke machines, and it’s a wild ride watching these young guns duke it out over two, twenty-minute races at each national round.Koby Hantis led the team with his third-place finish for the round on the back of his 1-7 results. Hantis had to work hard for his victory in race one as he charged through the field to engage with Jet Alsop in the closing stages of the moto. The pair went back and forth as the race came to close and neither willing to give up the win. For long periods of time, they were side by side on the final lap but with a few turns to go, Hantis was able to secure the lead and hold onto the finish line for victory.
Race two and Hantis was again charging his way through the pack when he clipped the back of another rider and went down. He was able to remount and hustle his way back to seventh and a final lap pass that saw him make the round podium for the round.
He now leads the MX3 series by six points and continues to grow as a rider with each moto.
“I had to work hard today as my starts weren’t great and it’s a tough track to get by,” Hantis offers. “I was desperate to get that win in the first race and just some bad luck in the second, but I’m pumped to keep the red plate and take another podium,” he said.
Behind Hantis was a whole gaggle of WBR Yamaha riders, with Kayd Kingsford in fourth, missing the podium by one point, Kobe Drew in sixth and Seth Burchell in seventh. Kingsford will be disappointed with his day as he was leading race one before he crashed but then bravely wrestled his way back to fifth and then in moto two, he was locked in battle for the race win, only to let it slip on the last lap.
Kingsford finished with 5-2 results and has moved to second in the series after two rounds.
Kobe Drew had a challenging day but kept some consistency on his way to sixth with 4-6 results. He was just off the pace of the lead group as he found the tricky track a challenge but stayed in contention for the championship with some smart riding.
It was Seth Burchell’s first round as he missed round one with a wrist injury but showed plenty of promise at Horsham. He was looking at a strong top five result in moto one before he stalled the bike and took some time to get it going, before clawing his way back to eleventh and then in race two he finished a solid fourth place and will be much better for the hit out.
“It was a busy day for the team with all four riders on deck,” commented team owner, Travis Whitten. “Each rider had their moments throughout the day and while we would love a repeat of round one with the entire podium being WBR Yamaha riders, unfortunately lightning didn’t strike twice, yet!
“I liked the fight Hantis showed all day, and he is blossoming in front of us every race and Kayd Kingsford has plenty of raw speed, we just need to reduce the small mistakes. Kobe Drew just needs to pick up some intensity in his riding and he will be right at the front while Seth will be right in the mix when he is back to full health, so we are looking good and pleased with the progress the riders and team have made so far this year,” Whitten ends.