It has been a challenging but rewarding year for the Honda Australian racing team—the Aussie branch of the Quad Lock Honda team here in the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) in the United States. The team’s four riders—Kyle Webster (MX1), Brodie Connolly (MX2), Kayd Kingsford (MX3), and Charli Cannon (MXW)—all repeated as champions this year back home in their Australian MX Championship, which is no easy feat for one single rider, let alone the entire team! Then, all four riders came to the U.S. for the ninth round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Ironman Raceway to compete in Pro Motocross (Webster and Connolly), the SMX Next - Motocross Combine (Kingsford), and the fourth round of the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship (Cannon).
The Aussie quartet experienced more challenges at Ironman Raceway, most significantly the heat and humidity. Team owner Yarrive Konsky noted the differences in temperature in Australia vs the conditions faced in Indiana: “We can’t prepare for this. …that’s just the reality,” he said.
“We weren’t ready for this heat,” he continued. “And the only way we can start is by jumping in at the deep end. Because we don’t have time to come here for a month and prepare cause we’ve only got the opportunity to do the last three rounds.”
After the race, I caught up with team owner Yarrive Konsky for a full run through of the weekend, and we talked about the team’s success back home in Australia, the big picture goals for MXoN here in the U.S. at Ironman Raceway in early October, and the team/riders’ plans for 2026.
A great quote from Konsky read:
“We won’t hold people back. It would be easy to keep these four, amazing, champions in Australia and keep enjoying that success at home, but that’s not helping them or the sport. So, the thing I’m most proud [of] is that Honda is providing a pathway for these riders to get an opportunity overseas [here in the U.S.].”
Film/interviews/edit: Mitch Kendra
