With the fourth round of the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship holding centre stage at Maitland this weekend, MotoOnline takes a closer look at the form of the top three riders in the MX1 and MX2 categories as we approach halfway.

Rider: Kyle Webster
Rating: A
Rundown: Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Kyle Webster is enjoying the best start he’s ever experienced to an MX1 campaign. He’s won four of the six motos so far, with clean sweeps at both the season opener at Wonthaggi and the last time out in Gillman. Granted, both of those round wins were on his favoured soft terrain circuits, but he also showed at Horsham that he’s got plenty of pace on hard-pack tracks as well, finishing tied on points with third-placed Kirk Gibbs (GasGas Racing Team), but losing the podium honours on countback. Webster holds onto the red plate by just one point, and if he can fend off his nearest rival – Jed Beaton – this weekend, he’ll gain a bunch of confidence into the back half of the season.

Rider: Jed Beaton
Rating: A
Rundown: If you’re purely looking at the championship long game, Jed Beaton has done everything right so far this year, even if he’s seemingly given a couple of potential wins away. He might only have one moto win to his credit, but the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy rider has been a master of consistency, finishing no lower than P2 in any race so far. Trailing Webster by just one point, Beaton is perfect positioned to launch a mid-season offensive, starting this weekend at Maitland where three motos worth of points are on offer.

Rider: Nathan Crawford
Rating: B+
Rundown: Nathan Crawford will be more than satisfied to the start of his 2024 championship. Back in the MX1 class for the first time since 2017, the KTM Racing Team rider has already ticked off one of his goals for the year after breaking through for his first MX1 moto win at Horsham. A P2 in the second race saw him finish the day tied on points for the round victory, and even though he lost to Beaton on countback, it was a hugely satisfying day for the him. It didn’t all go according to plan at the most recent round at Gillman, though, with his 4-7 results seeing him end his day sixth overall. Crawford still holds down third in the championship, with reigning champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy) looming large in his rear-view mirror.

Rider: Brodie Connolly
Rating: A+
Rundown: At the start of the season everyone was asking who’d be the next heir to the MX2 throne, seeing that Crawford and Wilson Todd (Terrafirma Honda Racing) were stepping up to the 450s. Polyflor Honda Racing’s Brodie Connolly has well and truly answered that call. The Kiwi racer has been the class of the MX2 field so far, winning five of the six races on offer, including clean sweeps at Horsham and Gillman. Connolly has already built a very comfortable 38-point margin over his second-placed team-mate Noah Ferguson, and with a potential 75 points on offer this weekend, he’ll fancy his chances of extending his lead even further.

Rider: Noah Ferguson
Rating: B+
Rundown: Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Noah Ferguson started his 2024 campaign on the best possible note when he straight-up caught and passed Connolly to claim the first MX2 moto win of the year at Wonthaggi. Even in the second race at Horsham the Queenslander put in an inspired late-moto charge to finish less than a second behind his team-mate. However, a tough opening moto there hurt his chances, and a bad start to his second race at Gillman had him scrambling through the pack to P5 as Connolly cruised to another comfortable round win. Ferguson will never quit though, and if he wants to keep himself in the MX2 championship conversation, he’ll need to carry his trademark raw speed through all three motos this weekend.

Rider: Ryder Kingsford
Rating: B
Rundown: It’s been a solid start to the 2024 championship for Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Ryder Kingsford, who has shown plenty of speed over the three rounds that’ve played out so far. A Wonthaggi regular, he started the season well with a spirited P2 result in the opening moto there, then again proved he’s able to match the pace of the front-runners with handy P3 finishes in the second motos at both Horsham and Gillman. The only real issue in his season to date was in Horsham’s opening race when he went down early and had to fight his way back into the points with a tough P16 result. As we head towards the halfway mark of the series, Kingsford finds himself just 10 points behind Ferguson, but has Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) right behind him, just four points further back.