MX2 red plate holder Brodie Connolly saw his commanding 38-point lead slashed to just 12 points following Maitland’s fourth round of the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship, where a ‘heavy hit’ at the start of moto one continued to impact him across the weekend.

It was the first blemish in what had been a dominant start to the season for Connolly, who finished no worse than second and along with winning every moto since race two at Wonthaggi’s season-opener.

The Honda Racing entry went down heavily at the start of moto one on Saturday after making contact with Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team), remounting to salvage P19 before having to back it up with two races on Sunday in Maitland’s unique two-day format.

The New Zealander admitted to feeling ‘fuzzy’ on Sunday morning although he continued to race the pair of motos, registering 8-3 results for seventh overall to keep his championship campaign alive.

“I went down super-hard – that was a heavy hit,” Connolly stated to MotoOnline. “I got up and going again – I felt not too bad and I was going okay, I think I got to 10th or 11th and dropped it a couple more times and started feeling a few effects of the crash with my head and stuff. I just had to cruise home for 19th in that one.

“I woke up [on Sunday] and the body was cooked and my head was fuzzy. I just tried my best and gave it my all – if that’s an eighth and a third, I can’t complain too much. I lost a lot of points, but I still have a 12-point lead.”

Connolly was fortunate the damage wasn’t worse, with teammate and championship rival Noah Ferguson (Honda Racing) unable to capitalise on the series leader’s P19 moto one finish, crossing the line in seventh.

The MX2 title race is now wide open, with Ferguson sitting just 12 points behind Connolly, while Maitland overall winner Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) is 19 points off the lead in third position.