Cole Thompson, turned in his best performance of the 2022 supercross season, taking the SX2 (250cc) victory at the final round of the 2022 Australian Supercross Championship at the Wagga Wagga Speedway on Saturday night.
The Canadian rider, who returned home on Monday, finished his first Australian stint on a high note, taking a hard-earned victory after a tight and intense night of racing.
Contesting the doubleheader, two moto final on the night, Thompson started the opening moto just outside the top five and began to move his way forward on the technical and challenging Wagga circuit. He moved into fifth, then fourth a few laps later before stalking the rider in third before making his move late in the race to snare third.
Race two saw Thompson shoot to the lead and control the race in the opening stages. He worked hard to maintain the lead as a hungry pack pursued him. Wilson Todd was able to slip by, but Thompson then steadied the ship and held second place all the way to the finish.
With the Olympic scoring system in place, three riders tied on five points for the night, but with Thompson getting the win due to his higher finish in the final race. Thompson won with 3-2 results, ahead on Nathan Crawford with 2-3 and Max Anstie in third with a 1-4 finish.
The win on the night boosted Thompson to second in the championship and what can only be viewed as a successful campaign.
“It was awesome to finish my time in Australia with a round win and reward the Serco Yamaha team for their faith and efforts in me,” Thompson begins. “Getting international riders is never an easy option for a team but the Serco guys have been great, and I really wanted to get a win for them and finish on a positive note.
“I have really enjoyed my time in Australia. Everyone has been good to me, and I hope at some point I get to come back and race again as I was just finding my feet with the tracks and the way things go down under.
“Thank you to Gavin, Ben, Paul and Jonni for working with me and Yamaha Australia for their support. It’s been an honour to represent them and would love to come back and do it again,” Thompson concluded.
ASX RESULTS
SX2 – Wagga Wagga
1st Cole Thompson
2nd Nathan Crawford
3rd Max Anstie
4th Wilson Todd
5th Kaleb Barham
6th Noah Ferguson
7th Rhys Budd
8th Jayce Cosford
9th Jai Constantinou
10th Jaxon Hadlow
SX2 Championship Standings
1st Max Anstie – 95 Points
2nd Cole Thompson – 79 Points
3rd Nathan Crawford – 73 Points
4th Rhys Budd – 65 Points
5th Noah Ferguson – 64 Points
6th Wilson Todd – 62 Points
7th Kaleb Barham – 58 Points
8th Jai Constantinou – 49 Points
9th Jayce Cosford – 47 Points
10th Jaxon Hadlow – 41 Points
