The eighth and final round of the 2026 Penrite ProMX saw Yamaha Racing add another two championship victories with Lachlan Turner claiming the WMX class win and Hayden Draper snaring the MX3 crown, in addition to Jed Beaton and Blake Bohannon already securing the MX1 and 85cc divisions.
Add to that a round victory for Aaron Tanti in the premier MX1 class, with teammate Jed Beaton chiming in for a third as well as a series runner up for Hudson Francis in the MX65 and the BLU CRU blitz continued to the end of the championship.
Monster Energy CDR Yamaha
With the MX1 championship decided last weekend at Conondale and Jed Beaton wrapping up the title, the focus was now on the runner up position with Beaton’s CDR Yamaha teammate, Aaron Tanti, tied on points with Kyle Webster. It was down to the last two races, and who ever scored the most points at QMP, would also take second in the championship.
Not only did Tanti finish ahead of Webster for the weekend, but he also won the final round making it back-to-back round wins for him and storming home in the championship. Tanti finished with 2-1 results to claim the win and confirm he is back to his best after a couple of injury interrupted years.
“I won last week at Conondale also, but this one feels much better to me,” Tanti explains. “I felt like I stumbled over the line to get the round win last week as I should have won the final moto, but this feels like I earned it. I won the last race of the season, and was probably my best ride of the year, so Imp round of that and of the effort everyone on the team put in.”
For Beaton, the championship victory also bought on a change of mindset, and he was out to enjoy the weekend. Beaton will be the first to admit is riding on the weekend wasn’t his best, but with the championship already sewn up and a trip to the US on the cards for later in the week, it’s easy to understand why.
“I didn’t ride great all weekend but was still able to land on the podium for the round and it was great to see Aaron get up and make it a team 1-2 for the championship. Both of us have had some pretty major injuries in the last couple of years so we have been on similar paths, so congrats to him for a strong finish to the season.
“Last week was a big relief for me to get the championship so this weekend wasn’t about trying to make any statements but rather get through the weekend safely and then get back into my normal routine as I still have a lot of racing do to in the coming months.
“Thanks to the team on a great season and hopefully even better things are just around the corner,” he ends.
Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha
Turner made it the perfect season winning all motos motos on her way to the WMX championship. Lala has become a fan favourite since landing in Australia and was beyond excited to claim the crown with a race to spare.
She entered the final round with a 34-point lead and just needed to ride smart to take her first Australian championship. But Turner isn’t programmed that way and wanted to cap of the year with two race wins and stamp her authority on the WMX championship.
“I’m so pumped to win this championship; it’s a dream come true. I wanted to race in Australia since the first year of the Oceania Challenge a couple of years ago and to have all this come together and then have such a good season has been amazing,” Turner begins.
“Everyone here has been so nice to me and my family, and the team have been the best. They gave me everything I needed but probably the best thing was they believed in me and that means a lot.
“I go back home now for a month to finish off the US season but will be back for the Darwin GP which I’m super excited about.”
Noah Ferguson enjoyed a good outing at QMP and came home in fourth for the round with two spirited rides. Ferguson finished the day with a 4-4 result, with each moto seeing the determined number 29 pick his way through the pack and then surge late in the race.
With just a few laps to go, Ferguson turned up the heat and closed in on the podium positions but ended up just short of the podium on the day.
“My starts weren’t great today, but I kept fighting all the way to the end,” Ferguson explains. “It can be a hard track to pass on so you have to make the most of your opportunities and it also shows how important track position is.
“I finished sixth for the year and in a real up and down season. I know I can do better and I’m determined to keep working hard and improving in the future. My good races are good, I just need to close the gap between my good races and my not so good races as in a championship that is 16 races, one bad race can really make a difference.
“Thanks to everyone on the team for their hard work so far this year and now we can look forward to getting started supercross in the coming weeks,” he said.
The season has been a real learning curve for Souya Nakajima. Having to learn a new team, a different bike to what he races in Japan, not speak English as well as learn new tracks in a very short time frame, means Nakajima had a lot going on during the ProMX series.
He finished the last round inside the top 10 again, making it three rounds in a row he claims a top 10 result and shows his improvement from the start of the year. His 9-10 results on the weekend don’t always reflect the effort Nakajima has put in.
“I was hoping for a better result in the series, but the Australia riders are very fast in MX2. I have loved racing here and learning new things while racing. I need to improve and would love to come back next year and see if I can get better results.
“My mechanic Masa has worked so hard all year, and the team now feels like home. I wish I was able to give them better results.
“I will be back in Australia for the Darwin MXGP and I’m really looking forward to it but before I go, I want to thank everyone at Yamaha for supporting me racing in Australia this year and hope to come back some day.”
Monster Energy WBR Yamaha
What a season Hayden Draper is having? He started the year off by winning the 2026 NZ MX Championships with JCR Yamaha and now can add the MX3 ProMX championship to his resume. Draper started the year on fire at the opening two rounds and despite a couple of off rounds mid-season, he was able to pull it together in the end and win the MX3 series with a race to spare.
“This season has had some challenges, but it’s been a massive learning year for me and so happy to get it done in the end. There were some tracks I hadn’t raced on before and I needed to learn them quickly plus it’s my first full season of racing in Australia and it took me some time to get used to the riders I race against and the conditions over here.
“I have liked racing in Australia, and the MX3 class has some really good riders. There are lots of riders that can win races and it was hard for any rider to get any consistency early in the series, but stoked I was able to stay pretty solid through most of the rounds and win it before the last race.”
Fellow MX3 racer, Jack Deveson didn’t compete on the weekend as he is still recovering from his crashed a week earlier at Conondale. Deveson has been stabilized and in good spirits but will require some time off the bike to ensure a full recovery.
Seth Burchell claimed seventh in the MX2 and when looking at the riders inside the top six, it is still a very respectable result. Burchell has been consistent all year but not quite had the pace of the leaders which also the same scenario that played out over the weekend at QMP.
Burchell went 10-12 at QMP and can now reflect on the championship.
“Seventh on paper looks ok in a deep MX2 field but I came into the year definitely expecting more. My goal was top 5 so it's disappointing to new meet that but the speed this year seemed a bit faster than last year.
“The WBR Yamaha team are an awesome bunch of people, and I can’t thank them enough for standing by me and supporting me into MX2,” he said.
GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing
The 65cc legends hit the track for their third and final round in the ProMX series. Blake Bohannon has been a previous winner of the 65cc Futures and Hudson Francis was keen to do likewise, as he came into the final round nine points behind the series leader.
Francis laid it all on the line and did all he could be just couldn’t make up the points. He led the majority of race one before being passed late in the race, while race two saw him rally late and push for another podium but ultimately, it wasn’t enough.
He claimed fourth for the round in a multi rider count back and also took second in the series with round results of 2-3-4.
Stella Harding finished sixth on the weekend and continues to put the boys to the sword. Her 65 days are numbered due her height, but she still isn’t scared to mix it up with anyone on the track. Despite some challenges at a previous round, she charged her way back to fifth for the series.
Ollie Thredgold landed in the top 10 in ninth for the round, while Archie Blanchette was just outside the top 10.
