Brayton and Todd Claim Australian Supercross Championship Triple Crown Victories at Geelong.
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Penrite Honda Racing's Justin Brayton has now taken three straight victories in his Australian Supercross SX1 Championship title defence. Photo: Aaryn Minerds
Penrite Honda Racing‰Ûªs Justin Brayton and Serco Yamaha‰Ûªs Wilson Todd have left the first triple crown event of the 2018 Australian Supercross Championships with the wins in SX1 and SX2 respectively as the championship returned to the wide-open space of GMHBA Stadium, home of the Geelong Cats, in Geelong Vic.
Penrite Honda Racing duo Justin Brayton and Brett Metcalfe went 1-2 for the third time in as many rounds to consolidate their first and second position in the SX1 class standings in the 2018 Australian Supercross Championship.
Things were not as clear-cut in the SX2 class with three separate winners for the three ten lap finals, round winner Wilson Todd, championship leader, Jay Wilson and DPH Motorsports rider Hayden Mellross all taking a win each.
Brett Metcalfe was in fine form and picked up a race win on his way to second overall for the night - Photo: Aaryn Minerds
SX1 class race one saw championship leader Justin Brayton get out to the early lead with Luke Clout and Brett Metcalfe fighting over the minor placings. Superpole winner Dan Reardon stayed solid in fourth holding off Lawson Bopping, who was doing well aboard his dead stock Kawasaki KX450F - Stock sprocket cover and all!
Things remained the same for the first eight laps until Clout dropped to fourth after crashing in the whoops, allowing Metcalfe into second and Reardon into third. Clout had a tight battle with Bopping for 4th before locking the place up by race end. With the 12 laps of moto complete Brayton went on to a three second win over Metcalfe with Reardon another second back in third.
Luke Clout was fast and in contention until lap five of race two when he crashed heavily in the whoops and would not take any further part in the nights racing. Photo: Aaryn Minerds
Race two saw roles reversed for the Penrite Honda Racing team with Metcalfe grabbing the win ahead of Brayton. Luke Clout was the early leader while Brayton recovered from a first turn off track excursion leaving him to work his way past five riders during the 12 laps.
Clout was strong out front until he crashed hard on the small double befre the finishline jump, which in turn put him out of the race on lap five.
Metcalfe assumed the lead while Reardon and American Jace Owen where locked in a battle for second for the midsection of the race. Brayton slowly worked his way forward and dropped the fastest lap to take second place from Reardon and Owen with two laps to go but was unable to haul in his team-mate. Reardon led home Jace Owen in third with Owen out Monster Energy CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Dylan Long.
With Race two Holeshot winner Luke Clout not taking the start following his spectacular race two crash, race three saw Brayton back to the front of the field at the drop of the gate with team-mate Brett Metcalfe once again in hot pursuit. Positions for the Penrite duo Never changed for the 12 lap journey. Reardon and Dylan Long waged a race-long battle for the final podium spot with Reardon prevailing. Long held of Jace Owen for fourth.
Dan Reardon won Superpole and finished the night on the podium with three third place finishes. Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Brayton with his two wins and a second took the round win while Metcalfe made it a Penrite Honda Racing 1-2, with his win and two second places, for the third time in as many rounds. Dan Reardon rounded out the podium in third with three third place finishes for the night.
As a result of his third straight round win Brayton has strengthened his lead In the SX1 championship and remains unbeaten in the overall results in his title defence. Brett Metcalfe remains in second with three second place finishes so far this season.
Serco Yamaha‰Ûªs Wilson Todd took a two point win over American Jacob Hayes in the SX2 Class. Photo: Aaryn Minerds
The SX2 class was a close battle over three race triple crown format with Serco Yamaha‰Ûªs Wilson Todd going 1-6-3 for a two point win over American Jacob Hayes who went 2-4-4.
Championship leader coming into the round, Jay Wilson, was only a point behind in third and would be left ruing the first moto that saw him finish 11th, his worst finish for the year. Wilson rebounded in moto two and three with a win and a second place, but the damage to his overall chances was already done in the opening moto.
Wilson still holds the championship lead heading into the final rounds.
Jacob Hayes was consistently battling up front all night and walked away with second overall in SX2 to give Serco Yamaha a 1-2 result for the round - Photo: Aaryn Minerds
The SX2 class proved a competitive class all night with a healthy mix of placings and riders, such as Penrite Honda Racing‰Ûªs Bradley Taft, who set the fastest qualifying lap, won his heat race and went 3-2 in the first two races but lost a chance for a podium with 8th in the final race after joining the large list of riders who threw it away in the whoops during the evening. The American ended the night just off the podium in 4th.
Hayden Mellross qualified well in third but was sent to the last chance qualifier to just make it into the main event after finishing 9th in his heat race. Despite continue to suffer from small crashes, he slowly made gains through the night though, going 8-5 in the first two races before coming from behind to win the final moto with some blistering speed, gaining himself enough points for 5th overall.
SX2 Championship leader Jay Wilson had a bad first moto but rebounded strongly in the 2nd and 3rd ending the night on the podium with third. Photo: Aaryn Minerds
With a ten year break since Supercross saw the open spaces of GMHBA stadium in Geelong, a good crowd turned up in what proved a close and entertaining night of supercross.
