Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha’s Ryder Kingsford has racked up his fourth podium in as many rounds with a second-place finish at round four of the ProMX Championship in Traralgon, Victoria.
Contesting the MX2 class, Kingsford has notched up 2-1-1-2 round scores at the first four rounds and now sits in second place in the championship, just ten points behind series leader, Brodie Connolly. Kingsford grabbed the holeshot in race one and led the 40-rider field around for the first lap, with Connolly hot on his heels. Connolly poured the pressure on and made several passing attempts before finally making it stick and relegating Kingsford back to second.
By the Yamaha rider didn’t give up and he stayed within striking distance over the next 15 minutes. He was able to pull up the rear wheel of Connolly and then drew alongside up as the pair sprinted away from the pack. But when the race ended, it was Connolly taking the win and Kingsford right behind in second.
Race two was shaping up the same, this time Connolly took control of the race and Kingsford slotting right behind in second. The pace was high and the two had moved away from the rest of the field went Kingsford went down entering a turn and lost several positions.
He was able to remount just inside the top ten and then got to work in regaining as many positions as he could. He charged his way back to fourth and then had a little luck on his side when two riders in front of him were docked three positions for jumping under a waved yellow flag. That gave him a 2-2 finish for the day and another solid points haul.
“I’m frustrated that I crashed in race two,” he begins. “It was my fault, but I was just sitting behind Brodie, trying to find some different lines when I ended up riding across some ruts and lost the front end. It was stuck under the bike and had a few guys pass me so that wasn’t good.
“I got a lucky in the end with Alex and Byron being penalised.
“So, I’m ten points off the lead at the halfway stage so I’m in a good position to have a real crack at the championship. The team have continued to work hard and made some improvements to the bike for this round so I know they have my back and will keep doing whatever it takes to help me win this championship.”
It was a tough day for Jayce Cosford who started the day well but wasn’t able to put two strong motos together. Cosford was able to qualify inside the top five and then a great start in race one saw him slot into second behind teammate Kingsford. He slipped back to third and held onto a podium position as long as he could.
By race end, he had dropped to fifth but received a one position penalty for exceeding course markers to be credited with sixth.
Race two and Cosford just couldn’t get into a flow. Again, he started well but just couldn’t find comfort in the fast and rough Traralgon circuit and faded back to ninth by race end. His 6-9 results gave him seventh for the day and he now sits in sixth for the championship.
“It wasn’t the day for which I had hoped. I struggled all day to be honest and never really felt great on the track. I was able to salvage a decent result in qualifying and race one but was terrible in race two and just couldn’t get going.
“That wasn’t good enough and I need to bounce back to the next round. Thanks to the team for all the hard work and I make sure I give them a much better result at the coming rounds,” Cosford said.