After somewhat of a breakout season as an MX3 championship contender last year, Moto1 Motorcycles team MX2 rookie Ryan Alexanderson’s 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship campaign has been a convincing one, landing inside the top 10 on multiple occasions, including a season-best sixth overall at round four in Maitland. With the current season in the middle of a seven-week break, the 18-year-old features in our latest Profiled interview.

Alexanderson has been a part of the KTM’s support program since 2016, achieving success as a junior including winning a national championship in 2018. Transitioning to the senior ranks started off tough for the Queenslander after losing valuable time due to the pandemic, only getting to race three ProMX rounds in the shortened 2021 series.

Despite the lack of national experience as a senior, Alexanderson surprised many as he immediately made his presence felt in the MX3 championship. After racking up race wins and podiums throughout the first half of the 2022 season, it was round six at Coffs Harbour where we saw what Alexanderson was really capable of, completing his first ever ‘perfect day’ in the MX3 class by qualifying fastest and winning both motos, convincingly.

“2022 was a great year for me,” Alexanderson told MotoOnline. “I got my first national race win as a senior at Mackay and finished the weekend second overall. Then Wodonga was another good weekend for me, I started around 20th in the opening moto and fought my way through to win by about 10 seconds. I ended second overall there after swapping wins with Cambell Williams, he went 2-1 and I went 1-2.

“I ended up getting hurt practicing at a private track aftyer Wodonga. It was a crazy situation. A horse snuck through the fence from the property next door and I came over this 80-foot step up and it was standing on the down ramp. There was nothing I could do, I hit the horse before my wheels hit the ground.

“I ended up going over the top of the horse and having a big one, I broke my collarbone, my shoulder blade in two places, three ribs and something else in my shoulder that I can’t remember the name of. So, that sat me out for the Gillman round, which hurt, because that was [Kayden] Minear’s best round, that’s where he got his first overall win of the season I think, so that was probably the worst round to miss.

“I came back at Maitland, but I really wasn’t ready to be racing. I was fired up when I left there, so I took that time between Maitland and Coffs Harbour really seriously and put in a lot of work. I came out and qualified fastest at Coffs by around two seconds.

“Moto one I had a shocking start, again. I think I was in about 20th on the first lap. But, I came through and got the moto win by about eight seconds. Moto two was similar, I came through the field and got the win again. But, that weekend was huge for me, firstly to get that first perfect day out of the way. But, it really just set the tone for me and kind of made me realise my potential.”

Fresh off his first-round win in the MX3 class, Alexanderson entered round seven at QMP with confidence. Once again it was a perfect weekend, sweeping qualifying and both motos to shorten the gap to championship leader Kayden Minear to 17 points heading into the final round of the season.

Alexanderson tied on points with Minear at the final round in Coolum, eventually coming up 17 points shy of the title. A commendable effort from the Queenslander after missing a full round worth of points at Gillman.

In 2023, entering the MX2 class as a rookie, Alexanderson started the year slow but he has grown into the class and cemented himself as one of the guys to watch in future, solidifying that with an extremely strong showing at Maitland.

“Maitland was a big confidence booster for me,” he continued. “Like, I knew I could run with these guys because I’ve done it before at local races and Queensland state races, but it’s totally different once you get to the national stuff, obviously. It felt really good to battle with those guys and beat some of them on that stage.”

As the Penrite ProMX series heads into the penultimate round at Queensland Moto Park, Alexanderson currently sits P9 in the MX2 standings and has ambitions of trying to land his first overall podium in the professional ranks.

“I’d really want to get a podium before I see this year out,” stated Alexanderson. “That would be a great way to finish the season off and I think it’ll help me heading into next year. Obviously, the goals will change heading into my second year in the class, as they do. I just really want to keep learning as much as I can this year, so that when next year comes, I can try and be at the pointy end every round, contending for podiums and race wins.”