Round six of the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship at Toowoomba saw a split practice and qualifying schedule, which was a plus according to Serco Yamaha rider Rhys Budd.

Throughout one-day national motocross rounds in recent years, practice and qualifying were traditionally merged into one or back-to-back sessions, with the opening half dedicated to practice and qualifying commencing in the second part of the outing.

That changed at Echo Valley, however, with the MX1, MX2 and MX3 practice and qualifying sessions split and not run back to back. MX2 practice for instance commenced at 8:00am, with qualifying for the class then taking place after MX3 and MX1 practice at roughly 9:15am.

Budd – who was ultimately fourth overall on the day with 4-5 moto scores – was positive towards the split practice and qualifying sessions, the YZ250F rider making a strong start to the day by securing fourth gate pick.

“Overall it was a decent day, can’t say it was amazing but it was pretty good, definetely could have been worse,” Budd explained to MotoOnline. “It was cool to have the split practice and timed qualifying, I kicked the day off with P3 in free practice and then P4 in timed qualifying, so sat myself up pretty well for the day.

“Got off to an average start in moto one and just kind of clicked off a few solid passes only on and even throughout the moto, and felt pretty solid and brought it home in P4 for moto one which was a good start to the day and set me up well for a podium position.

“In moto two we got off to a pretty good start, I think P2 heading into the second turn and just the boys behind me had a lot of intensity in the first couple of laps, made a couple passes and I was in fourth by the end of lap one unfortunately. I just kept digging all day, I lost another position a little bit further down the moto and brought it home in P5.

“I just need to work on a little bit of intensity and I had Brodie Connolly in front of me for pretty much the whole moto and knew I was a little bit faster, but I just needed to make a move sooner in the race and it would have been sweet. Like I said, it could be worse and I am looking forward to QMP.”

With two rounds remaining in the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship, Budd is fourth in the MX2 standings and just 12 points back from Connolly (Terrafirma Equipment Sales Honda Racing) in P3.