Empire Kawasaki 2023
By Axel Martin
Empire Motorsport has started the new year with a refocusing of direction. The team have decided to no longer contest MX1, and instead focus their efforts on MX2 with some new young riders.
Team owner Tyson Cherry hopes that by focusing on running in the 250 classes more effort can be put into where it’s needed, and not spread thin like perhaps it has been in the past.
With the wages of a top 450 rider around $80,000 just for the sign-on, let alone bonuses, the Empire boss decided to instead diversify into other classes like WMX and MX3 which should see his team on the podium regularly and hopefully snag a couple of championships.
We pulled up to the Mornington Peninsula Motorcycle club with excitement hanging in the air, it’s not every day you get the opportunity to hang out with a race team let alone ride their bikes. I have to say it’s impressive to walk up to a massive race truck and see all the factory MX bikes on one side and the off-road team on the other.
We gathered around the team’s six bike line up for the morning press conference, keen to hear from the riders and mechanics.
Empire has reaffirmed its ties with Kawasaki Australia who are hungry for some decent results too, and the importance of the collaboration was easy to see with Shu Yasui (Managing Director) and Rob Walker (National Sales and Marketing Manager) making the trip down from Sydney for the event.
As we learned there’s some pretty serious talent, guys and girls who are going to be giving their all for Empire in MX2 and MX3, whilst the team for the first time will also enter into MXW.
Tyson has had a lot on his plate organising deals but he has managed to create a great team of the best up-and-coming Aus ProMX riders.
In his second year with the team, Haruki Yokoyama is back. The Japanese rider and his full-time mechanic (wife) Huruka came to Australia a couple of years ago to build himself up to be a better and stronger rider. Finishing sixth in last year’s championship sort of proved that bigger things are to come.
Jai Constantinou is a 22-year-old Victorian with a burning passion for racing. Jai came seventh overall in the 2022 ProMX Championship just behind Haruki, he is hoping with the ’23 bikes being even more competitive he can get on to the podium. Unfortunately for Jai though, since these shots were taken he crashed at the Vic Champs held at Wonthaggi and broke his leg. Motocross is a brutal sport…
With the team deciding to stick with only 250s this year it has opened more options for different classes, one of these classes being MXW. Taylah McCutcheon is going to have her work cut out for her with some super tough competition, having to go up against Charli Cannon who smoked the field in ’22.
Taylah says she gelled with the bike straight away and is feeling confident going into the new season already challenging and beating Emma Milesevic at a preseason event. It’s a testament to how easy these new bikes are to ride that she’s already feasibly quicker than last year.
Going from red to green is Cambell Williams, definitely a class act. Cambell is 18 now and in his final year in MX3 before moving up to MX2. If it all goes well for Cambell he has what it takes to win.
I wasn’t just along for the introductions though, once they were over I got to ride their race bikes….
