Seventeen-year-old Monster Energy WBR Yamaha Race Team rider Hayden Draper claims the MX3 title of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championships with a race to spare at Queensland Moto Park (QMP) in Queensland this weekend.
Monster Energy WBR Yamaha Race Team’s Hayden Draper, of Karaka, wins the MX3 title at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship presented by AMX Superstores (ProMX) at Queensland Moto Park, Queensland, Australia. August 1-2, 2026. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
“It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet – maybe it will later tonight when I think about it a bit more, but I’m stoked,” smiles Draper after finishing fourth and clinching the title after his first moto of finals day. “It was good seeing my mate Jack Ellingham get a good start and he was leading for quite a few laps. So I was hanging back there watching him.”
Jack Ellingham #22 and Hayden Draper #96 get the holeshot in the MX3 class at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
Ellingham finished fifth in the first moto, with fellow Kiwi Seth Morrow claiming his fifth win on the trot. Draper was clearly playing for the championship, adding a third New Zealander to the top five.
“I was trying not to think about the title too much, but it’s hard when you get a good start, and you’re sitting in fifth, and you know where other guys are sitting,” Draper admits. “I’m stoked to wrap it up in the first moto.”
“There are so many people behind me supporting, so I’m stoked to do it for myself and all of them. Right now, it doesn’t feel real. It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Josh Coppins celebrates Hayden Draper winning the MX3 title of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
Draper led the MX3 championship across most of the eight-round series, while Morrow, of Southland, made a profound statement in the last three rounds, winning the last six motos in an incredible turn of form in the incredibly competitive class. Morrow’s efforts catapulted him into third overall for the competition, two points shy of second.
Seth Morrow, of Southland, makes it six moto wins from six at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
“I came into this weekend wanting to set a good qualifying time, which I did, and I was able to execute two good starts and two good races,” 18-year-old Morrow explains. “I’m proud of my efforts – once I had that first race win, it took a bit of weight off my shoulders and just wanted that winning feeling again and again.”
Morrow, who was teammates with Draper when they were riding 85cc machines, was stoked to see his friend win the championship.
“For us both to come over here and do what we’ve been doing, I think it is pretty cool. It’s a big congratulations to him. He rode well all season.”
Seth Morrow, of Southland, with coach Dee Wilson celebrate six moto wins from six at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
Other New Zealanders in MX3 included Ellingham, who scored both holeshots at QMP, finishing 13th overall, with Carson Carroll, riding a YZ125, in 40th. Tynan Morrow, also riding a 125cc two-stroke, qualified for the MX3 race before DNFing with engine failure.
Jack Ellingham #22 had his holeshots dialled in the MX3 class at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
In the premier MX1 class, Jack Symon, who debuted a week earlier in ProMX MX1, revelled in the fast track conditions at Queensland Moto Park. Symon posted a 17-13 to back up his performance at Conondale despite suffering a horrible crash in a downhill section in the first moto. He finished 13th overall for the round.
Brent Scammell Honda’s Jack Symon hit the ground running in the premier MX1 division of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
In MXW, Karaitiana Horne was able to post an 11-7 result at QMP to lock her inside the top 10 overall in 8th place. Mikayla Griffiths sat a bit further afield, finishing in 14th overall.
Raceline Husqvarna Racing’s Phoenix Van Dusschoten stepped right up in the ultra-competitive MX2 division, with consistently good starts and battles up at the front of the pack. Van Dusschoten went 14-14 to bookend a great debut in the division. He was bested by fellow Kiwi Madoc Dixon, of Tauranga, who looked sharp at the front of the field in early laps of each moto. Dixon went 11-12, finishing just outside the top 10 in P11 for the season. Curtis King found his flow in the last two motos with a 17-19 scorecard that placed him 20th for the series.
Raceline Husqvarna’s Phoenix van Dusschoten goes 14-14 in MX2 at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
JPM Kawasaki’s Madoc Dixon, of Tauranga, racing in the MX2 class at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
The New Zealand team consisted of Southland’s Jack Symon making his debut in the premier MX1 class, Levin’s Phoenix Van Dusschoten making his debut in MX2, joining Madoc Dixon, of Tauranga, and Curtis King, of Taranaki, in this hotly contested class. In the women’s MXW class, Karaitana Horne, of Raetihi, is leading the charge ahead of Mikayla Griffiths, of Taupo. The development class, MX3, is super competitive with Karaka’s Hayden Draper, joined by Seth Morrow, Jack Ellingham, of Auckland, Carson Carroll, of Waipukurau, and Tynan Morrow, of Southland.
Some of the New Zealand team at ProMX (from left): Seth Morrow, Jack Ellingham, Curtis King, Jack Symon, Carson Carroll, Karaitiana Horne and Mikayla Griffiths at Round 8 final of the 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship at Queensland Moto Park, Queensland, Australia. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison
Attention for riders and factory teams now moves to the five-event 2026 Australian Supercross Championship, which starts in Townsville, North Queensland, on October 3 before visiting Auckland for Round 2 on October 31, 2026.
