A season-first MX2 moto podium for Empire Kawasaki’s Haruki Yokoyama was a ‘big step’ as he continued to fight his way forwards at Maitland during round five of the 2022 Penrite ProMX Championship.

Yokoyama launched to another good start in the first race at the fifth round and slotted into third. The Japanese talent later dropped back to fifth before capitalising late in the race to cross the line in P3.

“My start was really good in the first moto, but in the beginning, my pace wasn’t that great,” Yokoyama told MotoOnline. “Once I got passed from [Jesse] Dobson, I could stick with him and rode with him for a couple of laps.

“Made a mistake in the middle of the moto, and after that I was kind of battling for third. Two boys, got together, I kind of got lucky with third, but I’ll take it. First moto third was a big step for me.”

Prior to the fifth round of the series, Yokoyama’s highest moto score came during the first race of the season at Wonthaggi where he was P5.

The number 386 ultimately ended Maitland fifth overall after finishing 10th in moto two. He sits seventh in the MX2 standings as the series heads to Coffs Harbour, NSW on 24 July for round six.