Oli Bayliss – World Supersport
The D34G Racing squad have confirmed they’ll be retaining the services of Oli Bayliss for this year, as he’ll be looking for a much better 2024 following an injury-interrupted 2023, which saw him struggle to produce his best due to spending so much time on the sidelines.

The D34G Racing squad have confirmed they’ll be retaining the services of Oli Bayliss for this year, as he’ll be looking for a much better 2024 following an injury-interrupted 2023…

Eager to put in a strong off-season of training to hit the ground running at his season opening home round at the iconic Phillip Island circuit, he’ll be hoping to get the ball rolling in a positive direction from the off, as Bayliss is keen to repay the faith shown in him by his team.

“I’m very excited to be racing for Team D34G Racing again. I feel like last year I didn’t get to show my speed due to some injuries and unlucky moments. I really enjoyed being with these guys and I’m happy to be going around the clock one more time to show how fast we can be. A big thank you to all of my sponsors, supporters and the whole D34G Racing for giving me this opportunity,” he declared.

Team owner Davide Giugliano is equally looking forward to seeing what the hotshot can achieve. “Obviously I’m really excited to dive into this new season and I can’t wait to get to the track. I’m really happy with this year’s rider line-up. We will continue with Oli and for him it’ll be another season of growth and we’ll try to maximise the work done this year, which for him was a bit of an unlucky one due to injuries. In any case I’m happy with him and he surely has mine and the team’s full trust,” 

Tom Edwards – World Supersport
Having impressed in the World Supersport Challenge series last term on his way to winning races and being crowned vice-champion, talented Australian Tom Edwards has secured a ride with the D34G Racing team for 2024, where he’ll be teammates with countryman Oli Bayliss.

Chomping at the bit to get stuck in and stamp his mark again in the Challenge category that competes in the European World Supersport rounds, it’ll be fascinating seeing if he can adapt quickly to the Ducati after being on a Yamaha.

“I’m very excited to be joining the D34G racing team next season and to be staying in the WorldSBK paddocks. I made a lot of progress towards the end of last season, and I’m looking forward to keeping that momentum going. I’m confident that the team and I will work well together and be competitive,” he said.

“It’ll be great to be under the leadership of team owner Davide Giugliano with all his experience. Can’t wait to get on the V2 and test it out in the new year, I think it’ll really suit my riding style. I’d like to thank Davide, the D34G team, my sponsors and my supporters for the opportunity.”

Jett Lawrence – AMA Supercross
Jett Lawrence began his first 450 AMA Supercross race in fine style by claiming a memorable victory to become the first-ever rookie in history to win on their premier class debut. Launching out of the gate masterfully to bank the holeshot, this saw him ideally placed to avoid the early chaos to ride his own race. And that he did, on his way to leading every lap against an absolutely stacked field at Anaheim.

Making a real statement with his seven-second win under the bright lights, there was no denying the gifted 20-year-old, who emphatically carried his exceptional form from last year into the season opener.

Jett Lawrence began his first 450 AMA Supercross race in fine style by claiming a memorable victory to become the first-ever rookie in history to win on their premier class debut…

“It’s an unreal thing to grasp, winning my first 450 Supercross. With how many years the sport has been around, you’d think someone has done it before, so I’m definitely grateful and happy to do it for Honda; it’s an awesome feeling getting into the history books for them. The season’s off to a great start, and hopefully we can keep doing the same throughout the season,” explained a delighted Jett.

Heading into the second round in San Francisco, and this bout certainly didn’t go to plan here because of the savage muddy conditions throwing a real spanner in the works for everyone. Forced to negotiate the rain and the sloppy and unpredictable conditions, Jett struggled to find his groove. To his credit, though, he fought through some missteps to claim ninth in the shortened main.

Next stop on the calendar was San Diego, which posed a great opportunity for him to rebound, in a round where the weather played its part too inside Snapdragon Stadium, with the rain making things challenging once more. Although it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as San Francisco, it still made the racing treacherous.

Starting the weekend with a nasty crash on press day, this left him with a jammed thumb. But, to his credit, the phenom battled the pain and a rough start to ride to a solid fourth. Engaging in a robust duel with Jason Anderson, the pair’s altercation after the race stole the headlines, with them clearly annoyed at one another in the heat of the moment. Jett has since apologised for his role in the disagreement. Sitting third in the standings and well and truly in the title hunt, he’ll be hoping to get back on the box when the series heads back to Anaheim.

Hunter Lawrence – AMA Supercross
Hunter Lawrence’s step up to the 450 class certainly wasn’t what he envisaged, as the Honda star failed to make the main event in Anaheim on his class debut. Enduring a night to forget that was littered with bad luck and adversity, the determined Aussie was justifiably disappointed afterwards.

“That obviously wasn’t how we planned for my 450 debut to play out, but there’s only one way to go from here, and it’s one I’m very familiar with: put my head down and get back to work,” he asserted.

Responding positively in the muddy quagmire in San Francisco, there was much to admire about how he rallied to secure a credible 10th. Ready for more at round three in San Diego his day at the office started off on the right foot, for he grabbed seventh in qualifying before the rain arrived.

Managing the hazardous track wisely to progress from his heat and into the main, it was terrific to see him claim a confidence-boosting seventh in the main. “We had a good learning curve. Unfortunately, our result didn’t really reflect the riding in the main event – I feel like we rode very well. A lot of positives and an improvement on last weekend, so we just have to keep on building. Our time is coming,” he told the HRC website.

Aaron Tanti – AMA Supercross
Making the full-time step to race 450 AMA Supercross for 2024, the former Aussie champion and WSX heavy hitter disappointingly suffered an injury after a nasty practice crash in the lead up to Anaheim 1. Forced to delay the start of his crusade, this latest setback came at a terrible time, for he’d only just returned to training following breaking some ribs at the WSX round in Abu Dhabi.

“Well not the post I want to be doing leading into A1. Not long ago I had a practice crash and I thought everything was okay, but when I rode a few times after and I had some issues and unfortunately found out yesterday that I need to get them fixed. Devastated to say the least, but I’ll be back when I can to continue the series. Thank you to everyone supporting me and the whole PRMX team,” he stated.

Toby Price – Dakar Rally
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star produced an accomplished showing in his 10th Dakar Rally to claim fifth in the brutal event. Riding with intelligence and consistency as he navigated the 12 stage slog smartly, his best finish was second in the final leg.

When speaking after the completion of the gruelling Dakar Rally, Price cut a reasonably content figure, saying: “For us, it’s definitely been a really tough event this year. Thankfully, it’s always a good result when you can get to the finish line in one piece at the Dakar, and here we are, happy and healthy.”

“Looking back over the week, we were never far off the pace, just made a few too many mistakes out there and as you know that can cost some serious time at Dakar. The whole Red Bull KTM team have been incredible over the two weeks and have worked so hard. It’s a shame we’ve not been able to reward them with a podium. Big credit to the top guys as well, they got it done this year, so congratulations to them.”

Daniel Sanders – Dakar Rally
Although his preparation for the iconic Dakar Rally was far from ideal courtesy of him suffering a broken femur back in May, the popular pilot put in a valiant effort to finish a very respectable eighth.

Considering he underwent his final surgery in November, and this makes his achievement all the more impressive. Bagging many top five results and displaying just what a class act he is on the big stage, there was plenty to admire about his character-filled performance.

Bagging many top five results and displaying just what a class act he is on the big stage, there was plenty to admire about his character-filled performance…

“Coming in I didn’t have much preparation at all. I broke my femur really badly eight months ago and I only had December on the bike to prepare, so all I could really do was spend as much time on the bike as possible. But we were able to get the bike good and here we are at the finish line,” he shared.

“My last surgery was only three months ago, and the bone still isn’t fully healed. I didn’t expect to be here back in November so I’m really happy to finish another Dakar. It’s certainly been a challenge this year and I’ve missed a lot of racing during the last two years, so my goal now is to stay healthy, then return bigger and better next year. I’ll be doing everything I can to make that happen.”

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Tanti finished the last round at Coolum in sixth place with 4 – 7 results. Just five points separated Tanti and the third placed rider, Kirk Gibbs, coming into the weekend so a strong performance at the final round could have seen on the championship podium.

Things were on track after race one when Tanti battled hard for a fourth-place finish, one ahead of Gibbs and narrowed the gap to just three points heading into the final moto. He then positioned himself well in moto two and was ahead of Gibbs when he fell and lost several positions. He fell again a few laps later and with it, any hope of a championship podium went out the window.

“Today was a disappointing finish to the year and not the kind of season myself or the team expected. Last year, I was able to get on a roll and reel of some race and round wins but this year I could never string enough races together to really make an impact. Dean was winning a lot of races while Jed was so consistent while I was having up and down weekends.”

“There were still a lot of positives I can take away from the year and I proved that I can run the pace. Appin was good for me, I was solid at Gilman but the rest of them were a bit hit and miss and that’s not what’s needed to win a championship at this level. I fell at Maitland and Toowoomba, two rounds that I’m good at and I feel I could have notched some round wins,  then the crash last week at QMP took me out of the hunt. But I will keep working hard as we have supercross to come and its my chance to redeem myself and get back up front again. Thank you to everyone that supports me as well as my mechanic, Allister, and the entire CDR Yamaha Team for working tirelessly throughout the season,” Tanti comments.

Despite not racing the final two rounds, Luke Clout rounded out the season in eighth place. Clout attended Coolum to support Tanti and his team with his wrist injury progressing well. He will be back on the bike prior to the start of the Australian Supercross Championship kick off on October 7.    

“It’s been a while since CDR haven’t been in the championship hunt at the final round in Coolum, so it was a different feeling for the team this weekend. Both riders seemed to take two steps forward and then one step back during the year and we just couldn’t get the points on the board when it mattered.”

“Luke was finding form when he injured himself prior to the Toowoomba round, then he had that practice crash that took him out of the championship while Aaron did a lot of the hard work to put himself in good positions only for a small fall or tip over to cost him valuable points and when racing against seasoned competitors like Ferris and Beaton, they prove very costly. We will lick our wounds, dust ourselves off and comeback in 2024 armed and ready for another championship tilt,” explains CDR owner, Craig Dack.

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Tanti, fresh from his championship win in the 2022 ProMX Championship, showed he has the skills indoors as well as out, after finishing second at the opening round of the Supercross Championship, sandwiched between US riders, Justin Brayton and Dean Wilson.

In front of 18,000 spectators, Tanti steered his YZ450F to the front of the pack in the opening laps and set down a furious pace that saw a four rider pack break away in the 20-lap SX1 main event. Tanti, Matt Moss, Brayton and Wilson edged away from the rest of the field but continued to fight for position at every opportunity.

Tanti led at the halfway point, but pressure was coming as the four-time champ Brayton, managed to find away through Moss and Wilson and set his sights on the lead. But Tanti wasn’t about to give it up without a fight. In an intense battled that mirrored their heat race early in the night, Tanti and Brayton locked into combat.

Brayton would pull a move, Tanti would counter. Tanti would clear-out, Brayton would wind him back in. Then Tanti went on a wild ride through the whoops that saw him lose control, have both feet off the footpegs as he torpedoed down the infield. Somehow, he manged to wrestle back control of his bike as it speared off track, maintain his lead and not take out any innocent bystanders in the process.

But the moment wasn’t lost on Brayton and within a few laps, he moved by the determined Australia as he was regathering his composure and checked out for a victory. Tanti steadied the ship and despite a late race charge from Wilson, Tanti crossed the finish line in second place and won the crowd over with his desire and desperation.

“That’s all I had,” Tanti said after the gruelling affair. “I wanted to charge as hard as I could for as long as I could and I did that, but Justin was just that bit better than me tonight, so congratulations to him. I’m pretty happy with how the night went and it gives me some confidence knowing that I can put up a good fight against some of the most experienced and professional supercross riders in the world. I did run out of gas towards the end, but I think if I can just keep a little more composure in the early stages and manage my breathing a little better, I can stay in it for longer. Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy team for getting us up to speed and the crowd for having my back all weekend. I could hear them all round the track and its awesome to have so much support here In Melbourne,” Tanti ends.

The night wasn’t as good for teammate, Luke Clout. Clout had just returned from injury but was battered and bruised from a crash just a couple of weeks ago. Still, he was able to generate plenty of speed over the weekend and was well placed in the 20-lap final until he lost the front end early in the race. While a low-speed crash, he fell awkwardly and took some time before remounting. He rejoined the race before going down again, this time injuring his thumb. He was able to pick himself up and complete the main event at a slow pace, but early diagnosis shows some internal issues with his thumb that will require further investigation. It is unlikely Clout will line up for this weekend’s round in Adelaide.

“I felt pretty good on the track all night and I got myself into a good position in the main and tried to settle in behind Aaron. But in the right hand turn after the triple, I lost the from and fell, then I got going again only to fall once more after hitting another rider. The RACESAFE Team feel there is a break in there and a quick X-Ray shows damage so I will see my surgeon on Monday for a full assessment and what treatment needs to be done. It’s not the way I wanted to start the championship and I was so keen to get back racing. I apologise to the team and our sponsors for letting them down, but I will be back more determined than ever once this is sorted,” Clout offers.

The CDR Yamaha International team also returned to Marvel Stadium on Saturday Night for the second and final round of the World Supercross Championship and it was again and mixed night for the team. With Tanti and US based Kyle Chisholm doing the SX2 (250cc) duties, it was left to Josh Hill to be the lone ranger in SX1 on the YZ450F.

Tanti continued his good form and in the three-moto final format, Tanti finished with 9-1-3 results to claim third on the night and fourth in the overall SX2 championship. It proved to be a far more challenging night for Chisholm who was tangled in the opening lap carnage in all three motos and finished outside the top 15.   

In SX1, Hill battled hard in each and every race to come home seventh for the night even with a low points score in race two due to a crash. His night was highlighted by a stirring ride in the final race where he come from just inside the 10 ten to snare third.

Round two of the Australian Supercross Championship now moves across to the Wayville Showgrounds in Adelaide this weekend where the action is expected to really pick up now that the championship is underway and every rider has a race under their belts after a two year layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Tanti and his team entered the final round well placed with a comfortable 24 point lead over former champ, Dean Ferris, but with the inclusion of Kyle Webster and Wilson Todd, the margin for error decreased as the depth of the MX1 field deepened considerably.

The worst case scenario was if Ferris won both motos, Tanti needed to place seventh in each to guarantee the championship was his. But with Wilson Todd winning race one and Kyle Webster race two, all Tanti needed to do was keep Ferris in sight and stay out of harms way and the number 1 plate would be bolted up again to the CDR Yamaha machine at days’ end.

In race one, Ferris could only manage a third, while Tanti crossed the finish line in seventh, meaning the points gap was still at a comfortable 18 points. Race two required nothing more than a finish inside the top 12 to become the ProMX Championship for 2022.

And that’s exactly what he did! He found some clear track around fifth place and maintained a consistent, yet conservative pace right until the end where he came across the finish line, with fist in the air, in sixth place and as the new MX1 champion. Ferris had his own issues and only managed a fifth, so the final margin of victory was 17 points.

“Today certainly wasn’t my best riding and I have been pretty nervous all week to be honest,” said a relieved Tanti. “I have never been in this situation before and this is my first pro title so I was just doing my best to get the job done and make sure I didn’t make any stupid mistakes.

“It’s not the way you always like to win a championship, but the hard work was done in the earlier rounds and I was able to build a good points gap on Dean and that allowed some margin today that meant it wasn’t all on the line and I could afford to be a little conservative on the track.

“Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for their support and endless guidance and encouragement of me this year. I came to the team as I thought they would give me the best chance of success and to be able to secure the ProMX championship with them this year is amazing. Allister, Brad, Gary, Troy and Craig do an amazing job and once you are part of CDR, its easy to see why they have won so many championships over the years.

“I also want to thank my family and girlfriend for their support. They go through the ups and downs of a racer every day and they have sacrificed things in their lives for me to have success and it was awesome to have them all here today.

“And finally to MA and the organisers of the ProMX championship. This year has been a huge step forward for the championship and we have had eight great rounds. MA have done a good job since taking over the promotion of the national motocross championship and looking forward to it being bigger and better in 2023. But for now, it’s time to enjoy this one and soak it up with the team, family and friends,” Tanti concluded.  

Tanti’s success in 2022, makes it back-to-back ProMX championships for the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team after Luke Clout’s victory in 2021. Team owner, Craig Dack, has lauded the Tanti victory as a special one for CDR.

“Aaron has done a sensational job this year and had to carry the full load as Luke went out with injury at round two,” Dack begins. “Aaron stepped up and took ownership of his role in the team and from round three onwards showed a real maturity in his dedication to racing and commitment to the championship. The team rallied around him, and we went from strength to strength through the middle part of the championship and it was so rewarding to see Aaron’s development both on and off the track. He thoroughly deserved to be the 2022 ProMX Championship.”

“I also want to take this time to thank all our team partners at CDR, most of whom have been with us for a very long time. I have decades invested with companies like Yamaha, Fox and Dunlop who have stood by us since the team started to our newer partners in Monster and Renthal. There are some many people and products that contribute to winning a championship and CDR thanks everyone of them and hope they feel proud of the part they play in our success,” Dack signs off. 

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