CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team rider, Aaron Tanti, finished the 2023 ProMX championship in fourth place after a frustrating final round which has typified his title defence season.
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.
