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Kyle Webster

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Kyle Webster
NationalityAustralian
Born (1996-04-24) 24 April 1996 (age 28)
South Africa
Current teamTeam HRC Honda Racing Australia
Bike number96

Kyle Webster (born 24 April 1996)[1] is a South African-born Australian professional Motocross and Supercross racer. Webster was part of the Australian team that won the 2024 Motocross des Nations, the first time the country had won the event.

Webster is a two-time national champion of Australia, with his most recent title coming in the MX1 class in the 2024 ProMX Championship.

Alongside his victory with the team at the 2024 edition, Webster also represented Australia at the 2019 Motocross des Nations.

Early life

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Webster was born in South Africa and it was in this country that he first raced motorcycles as a child. He had the opportunity to travel to the United States during this period where he competed at the KTM SX Cup competition.[2] His family moved to the United Kingdom for a time where he continued racing, before they again relocated to Perth in Western Australia.

Career

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Junior career

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The Australian Junior Motocross Championship was held at Wanneroo in Western Australia in 2008, where Webster won the 9–12 years Mini Lites class.[3] Due to the distances involved in competing around Australia, Webster only made one further appearance at the national junior championships, finishing third in the 250cc 13-15yrs class in 2011.[4] In 2013, he made three appearances in the under-19 MXD class of the Australian MX Nationals series, finishing fourth overall at the final round of the season.[5] This was followed by Webster competing in the full season of the MXD class in 2014, which included a first overall podium at the fourth round.[6]

250 Career

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Webster moved to the east coast of Australia for the first time in 2015 and moved up to the MX2 class full-time. For the final two rounds of the season and the following supercross championship, Webster was signed up to compete for the SFC Racing Team.[7] The 2016 season saw him compete on a Honda for the first time, as the Penrite CRF Honda Racing Team signed him up.[8] He finished second overall at the third round in muddy conditions and at the fifth round in Western Australia won his first race at the Wanneroo track he knew well from his junior days.[9] At the final round of that season's AUS-X Open Australian Supercross Championship, Webster scored a surprise third to finish the year with his first supercross podium.[10]

At the beginning of 2017, Webster made his FIM Motocross World Championship debut in the MX2 class at the Indonesian round. In muddy conditions, he was unable to finish either of the main races. Following this, he continued to improve at the Australian MX Nationals, finishing fifth in the final MX2 standings and scoring several podiums throughout the season. Continuing with the same Honda team in 2018, Webster took two overall round wins to finish seventh in the final MX2 class standings.[11] The 2019 season would see him battle for the MX2 class title with Wilson Todd, winning three overall victories and four race wins to finish as runner-up in the final standings.[12] Following this, Webster was selected to compete in the 2019 Motocross des Nations, his first time representing his country at the event.[13] As the event took place in The Netherlands on his favoured surface of sand, he surprised many people when he finished third in the Saturday qualifying race for the MX2 class, beating riders such as Jago Geerts, Alberto Forato and Maxime Renaux. The team finished fifteenth overall after the main Sunday races, where Webster had a best finish of fourteenth in his second race.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Motorcycling Australia cancelled the domestic racing season in 2020.[14] Webster was given the opportunity to stand in for the injured Benoît Paturel in the MXGP class of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship for the JM Honda Racing team.[15] A shoulder injury sustained at his first event for the team meant that he missed the rest of the season. Australian domestic motocross racing resumed in 2021 and Webster would have a dominant season in the shortened ProMX championship, taking the overall win in the MX2 class in all three contested rounds to be crowned national champion.[16]

450 Career

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After picking up his first ProMX title in 2021, Webster moved up to ride a 450 full-time in the MX1 class for 2022. He missed four rounds of that years championship after breaking his left foot and right ankle in a training crash but upon his return was able to win the final race of the season.[17] Following this, he appeared as a wildcard at the Australian round of the 2022 FIM Supercross World Championship in the WSX class, finishing seventh in the second race. Webster was fast throughout the 2023 ProMX Championship season, winning two overall rounds and taking four race wins which resulted in him finishing fifth in the final standings. He again appeared in the FIM Supercross World Championship, dropping down to the SX2 class to ride a 250 in the final two rounds for the Honda NILS team, with a best finish of fourth in the second race at the round in Abu Dhabi.

The 2024 season would include several milestones in Webster's career. After season long battle with Jed Beaton, Webster would win the MX1 class in the 2024 ProMX Championship, his first title in the category.[18] The pair dominated the championship, winning every round and all but two races between them. The championship was so tight that they ended with the same amount of points but Webster took the title with a superior number of race wins (ten throughout the season). Alongside this and with help from sponsor Mobile X, he made his debut racing in the AMA Motocross Championship, starting in the fifth and sixth rounds of the 450 class. Across the two rounds he finished three of the four races in the top-ten and finished eighth overall at the Red Bud round after battling for the lead in the early stages of the second race.[19] These results would see him selected to represent Australia for the second time at the 2024 Motocross des Nations and being partnered by the Lawrence brothers would mean that he had to ride a 250 in the MX2 class. Riding a bike he had not raced all year, he showed good speed throughout the weekend, finishing eleventh and nineteenth in his main races to play a crucial role in the country winning their first title at the event.

Honours

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Motocross des Nations

ProMX

Australian Junior Motocross Championship

  • 250cc 13-15 yrs: 2011 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
  • 9-12 yrs Mini Lites: 2008 1st place, gold medalist(s)

Career statistics

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Motocross des Nations

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Year Location Nation Class Teammates Team Overall Individual Overall
2019 Netherlands Assen  AUS MX2 Dean Ferris
Regan Duffy 		15th 7th
2024 United Kingdom Matterley Basin  AUS MX2 Hunter Lawrence
Jett Lawrence 		1st 6th

FIM Motocross World Championship

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By season

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Season Class Number Motorcycle Team Race Race Wins Overall Wins Race Top-3 Overall Podium Pts Plcd
2017 MX2 23 Honda Penrite CRF Honda Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 N/A
2020 MXGP 96 Honda JM Honda Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 N/A
Total 4 0 0 0 0 0

FIM Supercross World Championship

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By season

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Season Class Number Motorcycle Team Overall Wins Overall Podium Pts Plcd
2022 WSX 96 Honda Team HRC Australia 0 0 18 21st
2023 SX2 96 Honda Honda NILS 0 0 39 22nd

AMA National Motocross Championship

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By season

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Season Class Number Motorcycle Team Races Race Wins Overall Wins Race Top-3 Overall Podium Pts Plcd
2024 450 762 Honda Mobile X Fire Power Honda 4 0 0 0 0 45 23rd
Total 4 0 0 0 0 45

References

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  1. ^ "Kyle Webster Bio". racerxonline.com. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Profiled: Kyle Webster". motoonline.com.au. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ "QYJDT Podiums at 2008 Honda Junior Motocross Nationals". fullnoise.com.au. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Sixteen Australian Junior Motocross Champions crowned in SA". Alex Gobert. motoonline.com.au. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  5. ^ "2013 Motocross Nationals - MXD Under 19s" (PDF). auspromx.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Nathan Crawford Dominates The MXD Class At The Bridge". Aaryn Minerds. fullnoise.com.au. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  7. ^ "SFC Racing expands with addition of Webster". Alex Gobert. motoonline.com.au. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Joel Wightman and Kyle Webster headline CRF Honda Racing hit squad". Alex Gobert. motoonline.com.au. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Breakdown: 2016 MX Nationals Rd5 Wanneroo". Simon Makker. motoonline.com.au. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Race Results: 2016 AUS-X Open - Sunday". Team DBR. dirtbikerider.com. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Webster Wins Final Round of MX Nationals". penriteoil.com.au. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Webster 2nd in MX2, Budd 3rd in MXD, as Coolum hosts double-header MX Nationals Grand Finale". Matthew Shields. motoonline.com.au. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Australia Announces Motocross of Nations Team". Chase Stallo. racerxonline.com. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Australian Motocross Championship CANCELLED!". adbmag.com.au. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Kyle Webster remplace Benoit Paturel chez JM Honda". dailymotocross.fr. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Honda Racing's Kyle Webster Declared 2021 ProMX MX2 Champion". fullnoise.com.au. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Moto News - Webster injured - NZ XC - Dirt Track - WA MX - ProMX". mcnews.com.au. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  18. ^ "KYLE WEBSTER WINS 2024 PROMX MX1 TITLE". adbmag.com.au. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  19. ^ "2024 Pro Motocross Red Bud Round 6 Results". Cycle News Staff. cyclenews.com. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
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