Factory Honda Team Races More Than Ever in Lead-Up to Round 4 of the Australian Motocross Championship
In a determined effort to sharpen its edge ahead of the up and coming national rounds, Honda Australia is racing more frequently than ever before. The Factory Honda Team recently competed at the Queensland State Championships in Toowoomba—home of Round 7 of this year’s Australian Motocross Championship—as part of a strategy to intensify race-day readiness and refine bike setup through real-world testing.
Following a successful weekend in Toowoomba, the team has opted to remain in Queensland to continue testing and will compete in Warwick this weekend, another round of the state titles, as part of their build-up to Round 5 of the national series.
Reigning MX1 Champion Kyle Webster, who claimed victory in Toowoomba and has won more races than any other rider this season in the Australian Championship, sees the benefit in Honda’s proactive approach.
“Nothing beats gate drops. The intensity can’t be replicated in practice. We won on the weekend, but more importantly, we learned a lot. We hired the track yesterday and made real progress with the bike, those small gains add up. The team’s made a massive commitment being 20+ hours from home, and it shows in our results,” said Webster.
Wilson Todd also found the outing valuable, particularly the post-race test session.
“Yesterday was really positive. I’ve been coming back from nearly 12 months off due to injury, so racing on hardpack like that was a challenge. I struggled during the race, but we made major improvements afterward and I’m feeling much more confident,” said Todd.
Brodie Connolly once again dominated the MX2 class, taking the win and also finishing second to Webster in the MX1 class. He credited the team’s relentless commitment to racing more races for his momentum.
“We’ve done more racing than most teams, over six state rounds across three states already this year on top of the nationals. That track time makes a difference. I’ve never raced at Warwick, so I’m excited to get more laps in this weekend,” Connolly said.
Alex Larwood echoed similar sentiments:
“Racing these tracks is important. If you don’t do these state rounds, you only see these tracks once a year. Getting more time on them definitely helps,” said Larwood.
Young talent Kayd Kingsford and female sensation Charli Cannon also took advantage of the Toowoomba round to prepare for their respective goals. Cannon dominated the Women’s class in Race 1 with a commanding win of over a minute, but was involved in an unavoidable crash in Race 1 of Pro MX2. As a precaution, the team decided she would sit out the final race of the day.
Kingsford, who currently leads the MX3 Australian Championship, held his own against the fastest 250cc riders in the country and continues to work on his fitness and strength as he progresses in the sport.
The Factory Honda Team will line up again this weekend in Warwick as part of their continued preparation for the national title chase.
