Aussie motocross hero Brett Metcalfe will give the first 2016 Husqvarna FC 450 in Australia its supercross debut when this weekend's Wayville round of the Australian Supercross championships takes place on Saturday night.
Making his sole appearance in the national championship, the South Australian will join with another hometown hero, Luke Arbon, to make up a powerful two-pronged assault for the SD3 Husqvarna team as it competes across the SX1 and SX2 classes.
At 31, Metcalfe is a decorated international competitor with a glittering career of motocross Grand Prix, AMA motocross and supercross and more recently Canadian MX National championship racing, but he couldn‰Ûªt resist the temptation to race before his home crowd for the first time since 2001.
Husqvarna Australia has made sure he is well armed for the occasion, with a brand-new 2016 model Husqvarna FC 450 - the most powerful, exciting and unique incarnation ever of the famous Swedish-born brand‰Ûªs top-shelf motocross weapon.
The new machine takes a big step forward over its predecessor, and beneath its groundbreaking ergonomic bodywork, the FC450 is an incredible 5.2 kg lighter, boasts significant horsepower gains across the rev range, as well as advanced frame and electronics technology.
‰ÛÏThis is my hometown race and I've never gotten to really compete." Metcalfe commented. "So once I heard it was coming back to Wayville, I began negotiating to come back down to this event.
"The relationship with Husqvarna in the US was starting to grow a little, and Steve from SD3 stepped in and we kind of put an arrangement together just to do this one race.
"I put five days on a 2016 model in the US and got a little setup over there, and then rode it here today. This is the only 16 in Oz right now so I‰Ûªve got to treat it nicely! From what I understand it's a big change from the 2015 model and so far I love this thing.
"This bike got an awesome feel, the front and traction is an excellent, which is obviously good for not just Supercross but anybody. The engine is phenomenal. The bike I‰Ûªm racing will run the complete stock engine, it'll have a set of suspension and triple clamps and a pipe and muffler - it's nothing special but I'm really stoked.
"I took a big break after the Canadian championship got done, so I haven't been on the bike for long, but I feel good. Whenever I'm on the track you race to win, so we'll see how we go, the preparation is good, it hasn't been great, but I feel good and the team around me is really good so we will just go in with a positive attitude.
"Luke is riding well too so I think we've got a good little team with SD3, rolling in for our home town event.‰Û
