Image: Foremost Media.

MotoCoach Elite Racing rider Rhys Budd will make a full-time transition to the 450 class during the second half of ProMX following an impressive MX1 debut at Toowoomba.

The 25-year-old has made a career in MX2, finishing runner-up in the 2022 series, but currently sits eighth in the 2026 standings with a best result of P8 at Wonthaggi’s opener.

Budd turned heads in MX1 upon finishing sixth overall at round four of the season with a 7-7 moto scorecard, on a weekend where he completed double-duty and was 13th in MX2. It was later decided that he would focus on the premier class ahead of the team’s home round.

“After Toowoomba, we had a chat, did he just want to ride one bike or did he persevere in trying to do two classes, but his opinion was to ride just the 450,” Moto Coach Elite Racing team owner Leigh Gainfort told MotoOnline. “And so we were pretty happy with that – I think he’ll go well.

“His riding style does suit the 450, so I felt 450 was the way to go. He felt he had unfinished business on the 250, which is fair enough and I thought that was that was reasonable, but in hindsight, he is great on the 450 so I’m pretty pleased that he’s riding it.”

After claiming ninth in the MX2 championship last year, Budd turned his season around in finishing third in the SX2 category of the Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship with the Empire Kawasaki team.