Americans share the spoils at Australian SX season opener in Brisbane

2019 Australian Supercross Championship

Round One – Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Words & Images by AM

Americans Justin Brayton and Jacob Hayes made it an American double victory at the opening round of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday the 12th of October.

Justin Brayton topped both SX1 finals to claim the full 25 championship points and the series lead for Penrite Honda. CDR Yamaha’s Daniel Reardon took second overall on 22-points thanks to 3-2 results across the two mains and CDR team-mate Luke Clout completed the podium on 20-points after posting 4-3 results.

American Josh Osby won the opening SX2 Final ahead of Serco Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti and Jacob Hayes. Hayes was victorious in the second bout to take the championship lead after Osby only managed a fifth place finish in the final race.

23-year-old Sydney-sider Aaron Tanti (2-3) was second for the round while Penrite Honda’s Chris Blose (4-2) rounded out the overall podium.

SX1

SX1 Qualifying

Penrite Honda Factory Racing’s Justin Brayton started his perfect night by setting the fastest time of 22.526-seconds in qualifying, with CDR Yamaha’s Luke Clout within half-a-second with a lap time of 22.994s, and CDR Yamaha team-mate Dan Reardon third fastest.

SX 1 Heat 1
(Top Four to Mains / 5th-9th to B-Main)

The opening SX1 heat was dominated by Clout, the Yamaha pilot grabbing the holeshot and leading from start to finish.

Husqvarna privateer Jesse Dobson momentarily held down second position until he ran into trouble, allowing current MX1 National Motocross Champion Todd Waters and his DPH Husqvarna to move into second place, with Empire Kawasaki’s Lawson Bopping in third.

Yamaha Yamalube’s Richie Evans and SB Suzuki ECSTAR racer Jayden Rykers were locked in a race-long battle for the fourth and final transfer spot, with Rykers sealing the deal with a forceful pass in the final lap of the race, leaving Evans on the ground and off to the B main.

SX 1 Heat 2
(Top Four to Mains / 5th-9th to B-Main)

Penrite Honda’s Brett Metcalfe led the second heat early on ahead of the Davey Motorsports KTM machine of Caleb Ward, but both riders soon had to deal with Brayton, the current three-time Australian SX champ quickly making his way around Ward and latching onto his team-mates’ back wheel.

With three laps remaining, Brayton made a decisive move by Metcalfe to take the race win. Empire Kawasaki’s Dylan Long looked as though he was happy to settle for fourth and final direct qualifying position, but with just two laps to go Reardon – who had crashed on the opening lap – closed in on his back wheel, forcing Long to make a move on Ward for third.

On the final lap, Reardon was also able to move around Ward, securing himself a spot in the night’s double-header main event, while Ward was forced to the B-Main that would also double as the last chance qualifying race.

SX 1 B-Main
(Top 2 to Finals – 3rd-10th awarded 11th to 18th for the round)

With all racing providing bar banging action across the night, the expectation for the B-main with only the top two riders progressing to the nights A-mains was for an all-out war for the final two spots in the night’s big event.

However, it was not the case as Richie Evans and British racer Gradie Featherstone aboard his KSF Yamaha rounded the opening turn in first and second positions and held those spots comfortably until the end of the race.

Caleb Ward once again held down third spot until the final lap where he was passed by Honda Red rider Joel Wightman, leaving them 11th and 12th overall for the round.

SX 1 Final 1

Justin Brayton once again led home his Australian competition, taking the lead from the start, with Lawson Bopping and Brett Metcalfe in tow.

On lap three Metcalfe moved into second position and was able to keep Brayton in sight, but Brayton was too good – winning by just over four-seconds, Metcalfe in second position and Dan Reardon third.

Luke Clout recovered from a bad start to climb his way through to fourth, with Bopping holding on to finish in fifth position.

SX1 Final 2

In a repeat of the opening final, Brayton jumped to the race lead early, with Metcalfe once again on his rear wheel along with Reardon.

The race out front quickly became a two-horse race after Metcalfe came off second best in a battle with Reardon that left the South Australian on the backside of a berm and scrambling to get back on track.

Back out front Brayton ran away to another four-second win to cap off a perfect night of racing for the American.

Justin Brayton

“That was awesome, to be honest, it was a big relief to get that one out of the way. You never quite know coming into round one, I have done a lot of preparation myself, but you can never underestimate these guys, with the guys next to me and riders like Metty, the list is long. I just love coming over here, thanks to everyone welcoming me, this is my fourth year and it is my families second home, thanks for Penrite Honda and Yarrive for having me every year, it has been fun.”

Reardon held on to second place for the race and an amazing second-place finish overall after being on the ground at the start of the first final.

Dan Reardon

“We will take second place, the indoor race can be a funny round, it can be a little bit excitable and as I said coming in, standing on the box regardless of the position would be good. Your night can turn upside down pretty quickly. The whole day went pretty good, I had some ups and downs and I did not ride that good in the first final and it sort of lingered into the second one, but we will take it.”

Rounding out the podium for the round was Luke Clout with a third-place finish in the second Final.

Luke Clout

“We had a couple of crashes in practice, but it’s always good to get those out the way in practice while learning the track and pushing the track. I am a little bit angry with myself, I didn’t get off to the best starts, but my riding was pretty good, so I have to go back and keep working. It has been a stressful week this week, you can definitely lose a championship at the first round, even more so at an indoor round, so to come out of here with a third, and being on the box is as good as a win for me.”

Metcalfe recovered to finish fifth in the second final, ending the night fourth overall, one position ahead of Dylan Long who quietly went about finishing an impressive fifth overall for the round, thanks to a fine fourth place finish in the final race of the night.

SX1 Results and Standings

SX2

American Jacob Hayes came out on top in the SX2 class but it didn’t go all his way. Joshua Osby topped the opening SX2 Final before Hayes then took control in Final 2 after a strong day of racing.

SX2 Qualifying

American Chris Blose showed he would be a genuine title contender straight off the bat in the SX2 class for 2019, topping qualifying with an impressive lap time of 22.820 seconds aboard his Penrite Factory Honda Racing CRF250R, edging out the Australian pairing of Jay Wilson (Yamaha Yamalube Racing) and Aaron Tanti (Serco Yamaha).

Behind the two Australians it was all team U.S.A. with Mitchell Oldenburg (Penrite Honda), Jacob Hayes (Serco Yamaha) and Bradley Taft (Empire Kawasaki) rounding out the top six.

SX 2 Heat 1
(Top four to Mains / 5th-9th to B-Main)

Jay Wilson got his title defence off to a great start leading the opening SX2 heat early on followed by privateer Tomas Ravenhorst, until Ravenhorst came undone with a crash, promoting Oldenburg to second position.

Oldenburg stalked Wilson for the entire race, leaving his attack to the final corner to steal the win by just seven-tenths-of-a-second to start what would be an American onslaught in the 250 class.

Joshua Osby (Raceline KTM) and fellow American Bradley Taft battled it out for the final two qualifying spots to the night’s finals, finishing third and fourth while 2019 Australian MXD champion Regan Duffy was the first rider off to the B-Main finishing in fifth.

SX 2 Heat 2
(Top four to Mains / 5th-9th to B-Main)

American riders again led the way in the second heat, with Chris Blose leading from start to finish. Kyle Webster and Aaron Tanti flew the flag for the Aussies as they battled with Jacob Hayes for the final direct qualifying spots for the main events.

A mistake by Webster on the final lap allowed both Hayes and Tanti to sneak through, though Webster was able to recover fast enough to hold on to the all-important fourth-place finish.

SX 2 B-Main
(Top 2 to Finals – 3rd-10th awarded 11th to 18th for the round)

The SX2 B-main also doubled as the LCQ, and was a straight forward affair as recently crowned Australian MX2 champion Wilson Todd (DPH Husqvarna) and Dylan Wills (Davey Motorsports KTM) rounded the opening turn in first and second respectively and held those positions until race end to make it through to the Finals.

Behind them Regan Duffy looked as though he might be able to challenge early for a transfer position, but what looked to be a bike issue forced him to slow his pace and he drifted back through the pack, eventually finishing two laps down.

SX2 Final 1

Joshua Osby made the perfect start to the SX2 double-header final, leading from the first turn and holding on to win the race by just over one-second from a hard-charging Aaron Tanti.

While everything was smooth sailing for the leading two riders, title contenders Chris Blose and Jay Wilson were left to pick themselves up after a first turn crash, while Hayes was also left to make his way from the back half of the field after the first turn incident.

Hayes put in an impressive charge to cross the finish line in third position, just ahead of Blose who picked his way through the field to finish fourth. Oldenburg made it four American riders in the top five.

SX2 Final 2

Both Hayes and Blose put the bad luck from the start of the opening final behind them when the gates dropped on the second SX2 final, sitting just behind Wilson Todd for the opening lap, before Wilson made a mistake over the finish line jump allowing the two American riders by, the duo quickly locking into a battle for the race and round win.

By the mid-way point of the race Hayes was able to break away before going on to claim a five-second race win and in doing so the opening round win for himself and his Serco Yamaha team.

Jacob Hayes

“I got that first race off to a great start, but unfortunately got huck a buck into the first turn and went down. I knew I had to put my head down and I did. When I came off, I was pretty fired up, just because it was a mental error. I knew I had a chance in the second one, I got a good start then Wilson (Todd) gave me a bit of a gift before the finish line, then me and Chris (Blose) battled a bit for the first half of it. The track was tough tonight, me and Chris are known for our tight course racing, but I am excited to get outdoors next weekend and open the bikes up.”

Blose’s second-place finish was enough to edge him into the final spot on the podium for the round, while Aaron Tanti gave the fans something to cheer about with his third-place finish in the second final, enough to see him secure second overall for the round.

Aaron Tanti

“I am happy with second position, I didn’t make it easy on myself with my starts, but I made it through all the carnage, and consistency paid off going 2-3, I am happy with that, it was a pretty gnarly night, the track was tight and there was a lot of banging bars.”

Osby finished the night in fourth spot after a late-race Hail Mary manoeuvre on Jay Wilson left him on the ground and with a fifth place race finish, while Wilson himself recovered from his first final dramas to finish fifth overall for the night by holding on to fourth position in the final race.

The second round of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship will head to Port Adelaide in South Australia next weekend, Saturday the 19th of October as racing returns to a more traditional format with a single 20-rider main event race.

SX2 Results and Standings

85cc Final

In the 85cc class ten of Australia’s fastest junior riders qualified for the nights big Final via two heat races and a LCQ.

When the gates dropped on the nights final, both heat race winners in Ryder Kingsford and Connor Towill found themselves at the rear of the field after a crash exiting the first turn.

Out front Kody Kilpatrick quickly established as a race-winning lead as the young riders impressed the crowd on hand, launching the big finish line double and posting lap times that were on par with the back end of the SX2 qualifying times.

Kilpatrick race to an impressive win ahead of Liam Owens, with Kingsford recovering from his first lap crash to carve his way through the field, making a final lap pass on Jyle Campbell to take the final spot on the podium.

85cc Championship Points After Round 1