In what was an injury plagued three round series for BCP Pro Circuit Honda Junior Development Team rider Rhys Budd the NSW youngster managed a credible fourth place against the best junior 250cc riders in the country.
Prior to the three round ‘Rookies’ series that ran in conjunction with the Appin, Horsham and Toowoomba rounds of the MX Nationals Rhys Budd was tipped to be one of the favourites to take out the title however a broken wrist kept Budd off the bike until one week prior to round 1 at Appin, NSW where he came out swinging and earned himself second place on the podium.
Round Two at Horsham in Victoria once again saw Budd line up only a few weeks after surgery on his foot however he managed to slot himself up on the podium once again, until a last minute penalty was handed to both Rhys Budd and Regan Duffy for jumping under a yellow flag. The penalty dropped each rider back three positions dropping Budd back to fourth place on the day.
The final round of the series at Toowoomba saw Budd come down with a virus earlier in the week leading up to the event. The day started off with race one as the number twenty two Honda rider moved through the pack into third place but a crash near the end of lap one dropped him back to last place. A hard charge through to sixth place was impressive damage control but the virus would take its toll as the final race got underway.
With little left in the tank after race one Budd still gave 100% and went from third place out of turn one to take the lead half way through the lap. A couple of large mistakes sent Budd off the track and relegated back to fourth place in the early laps. Eventually Budd would drop back to seventh place in the moto.
“The flu really got a hold of me today,” said Budd.
“I tried to ride through it but the concentration just wasn’t there and on a track like this with some of the most technical ruts I’ve seen you really needed to have your mind on the job. We have had a really tough run with this three round series, but the rest of the year has had some real positives and we’ve won a lot of races. It’s now time to turn our attention to the Aussie Juniors and try to finish off the year the best way possible.”
The BCP Pro Circuit Honda team will soon start their lead up preparation for the ‘week long’ National Junior MX Titles that will be held in early October at the Horsham track in Victoria.
“It’s been a really challenging three round series for Rhys as he has come into every round seriously under-done,” said team manager Lee Hogan.
“But to his credit he has managed to salvage fourth place overall and can now focus on the one main goal of the year which is winning that National Junior Title. The rest of the team are really firing at the moment with both Royce Anell and Travis Edwards finding late season form and their team-mate Tanesha Harnett has had an incredible season already racking up two state championships. The build up to the National Juniors is always exciting each year and this year will be no different.”