ROGERS BREAKS THROUGH FOR PROMX MOTO PODIUM
WBR Yamaha’s Levi Rogers has continued his late season form surge with a fifth place finish at round seven of the ProMX championship, highlighted with a third place in the final MX2 moto of the day.
Previously Rogers best result in the MX2 division was a fifth place in race two at the last round in Coffs Harbour, but he bettered that on the weekend at QMP with a 10 – 3 day at Queensland Moto Park.
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It didn’t come easy for the tall Queenslander who was caught at the bottom of a first turn pile up in race one and picked up his bike in a distant last in the full 40 rider field. He then got to work and tried to salvage any result he could. He relentlessly moved hi sway forward and by the time the finish flag flew, Rogers has made his way to 10th place, passing 29 riders in 25 minutes.
When he finally got some clear track in the later stages of race one, his lap times proved to be very competitive and he took that belief into race two, looking for a much better result.
He burst from the gate and instantly slotted into second place. For the next 13 laps he sat just a few second from the rear wheel of race and round winner, Nathan Crawford. He was never close enough to make a pass, but close enough that Crawford knew he was there and had to keep the pace up.
In the waning laps, Rogers began to come under pressure from Jesse Dobson who was able to slip by with just half a lap remaining. That single pass saw Rogers drop from the round podium to fifth for the day, but it was still an impressive performance that shows him maturing as a racer.
“The Coffs Harbour round was good for me as I was able to prove to myself that I can ride at the pace of the front guys so my goal today was to show that wasn’t a fluke and that I belong near the front of the MX2 field.
“The 10th in the first race was good because I felt a rode strongly the whole race and my times were good at the end. It was more of a relief to finally get a good start in race two, stay out of the craziness and just do my laps. I could see Nathan just a head and I tried to just keep my flow going and stay with him as I knew he won the first race and had good speed.
“It was good to get third and the team were excited, so that’s cool. They have put in a lot of work, so it was good to see everyone happy at the end of the day, especially with Hugh also finishing well in moto two,” Rogers ends.
It was an up and day down for Hugh Mackay who finished with a DNF -6 to land in 13th for the round. McKay had a huge fall in race one but the tough as nails Tasmania was ready to re-join the race only to see his front wheel and disc with massive damage and he was forced to return to the pits.
Race two was a much better affair for McKay and he proved he can mix it with the MX2 guns with a solid sixth place in the moto.
“I guess I’m a bit frustrated after today,” McKay offers. “Given what I was able to do in race two and how I felt this morning, I could have got a good round result this weekend if I put two races together.
“I had a good crash out the back where I collided with another rider but my front wheel was a write-off with the disc bent all out of shape to the point where the bike couldn’t even be ridden.
“Thanks to the team for getting me back on track and we look forward to the final round in Coolum now,” he ends.
