Supercross

SUPERCROSS IS BACK, Fullnoise.com.au 2019 Supercross Preview

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Thursday, October 10th, 2019

9:43 PM

Its go time, the 2019 Australian Supercross Championsihp fires into life this Saturday

Supercross racing in Australia fires back into life this Saturday the 12th of December when the opening round of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship heads to the Brisbane Entertainment Center.

It is shaping up as the biggest Supercross season of recent times, which is no mean feat considering the supercross championship has been on a rapid incline in Australia over the past few years.

A little has changed in regards to the promoters running this years events, with Scott Bannan who has promoted Supercross in Queensland since 2014 and has been an integral part of the rejuvenation of Supercross in Australia no longer hosting a championship round in 2019.

The Jimboomba events always ranked amongst my favourite events in Supercross racing, there was always a great atmosphere at those events, great crowds and Scott and his business partner Paul knew how to put on a show.

For 2019 the opening three rounds will be promoted by Troy Bayliss Events in Brisbane (Qld), Adelaide (SA) and Wollongong (NSW), while AME who are the commercial rights holder of the Supercross championship in Australia will host the SX-Open in Auckland (NZ) and the big finale on November the 30th when Supercross heads to the biggest indoor stadium in Australia, with Marvel Stadium hosting the AUS-X Open.

Privateer Thomas Ravenhorst will be one of many riders to keep an eye on throughout the five round championship

Troy Bayliss events, lead by Mark Petersen also know how to put on an event, just think Geelong and Adelaide Supercross races this year along with some great Australian Motorcycle Expo events over the years. Both former World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss and Peterson are huge motorcycle fans and will no doubt put on three great events this season. The Wollongong round will also double as the Australian Motorcycle Festival, pretty much a Motorcycle Expo followed by a Supercross race on Saturday night, it is one round you don't want to miss.

If like us you follow the Australian Supercross championship Instagram page or any of the many talented Australian racers social pages, things have certainly ramped up over the past couple of weeks with plenty of footage of riders hitting their freshly built practice tracks, many of which have been built by Protraxx Australia, one of the main track builders for this years series. For anyone who follows Australian MotoGP star Jack Miller, you would have even seen him cutting laps on a Protraxx build supercross track this week!

Then of course over the past two days, our inbox has been flooded by team and rider press releases officially announcing rider line ups, bike liveries and more.

There was a lot to like about the event held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre back in 2014 and we can't wait to get back on Saturday.

It all builds towards an exciting opening night of racing and we are hanging to get back to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday.

The last time the championship visited in this venue back in 2014, Matt Moss was crowned Australian SX1 champion, looking back through the 12 rider main event SX1 result from that races instantly threw out one interesting fact. Only two riders from that night in the SX1 final will line up in the SX1 class this Saturday. The two riders you ask? Jesse Dobson who finished 5th and Lawson Bopping in 8th.

What is probably even more surprising is that only two of the SX2 finalists from that night in Dylan Long and Jackson Richardson will line up in the SX1 class on Saturday night, though a host of riders from both the SX2 and SXD class of 2014 are on the entry list for the SX2 class in 2019.

In terms of favourites to take the win on both Saturday night and for the championship, it is hard to look past Penrite Factory Honda's current three-time Australian champion, Justin Brayton.

Can anyone stop Justin Brayton winning his 4th straight Australian title. It wont be an easy task.

A constant front runner in the American Supercross championship and known as a specialist SX racer, Brayton will take some beating for this years championship, but with opening round playing host to a doubleheader round that will see the SX1 class race a 10 lap final, followed by a second 12 lap final on a tight indoor track, the door is open for quite a number of riders to walk away with the early championship points lead on Saturday night.

The CDR Yamaha pairing of Luke Clout and Dan Reardon will be two of the main challengers to Brayton, along with Rockstar Energy backed Jackson Richardson who announced he will race the SX1 class this season. Empire Kawasaki's Lawson Bopping and Dylan Long both have the outright speed and skill to take a win, along with Husqvarna backed Jesse Dobson.

DPH Husqvarna's Todd Waters should not be underestimated, then there are the riders like KSF's Gradie Featherstone, Davey Motorsports Caleb Ward, and the SB Motorsports Suzuki riders of Jayden Rykers and Cody Dyce, all riders that have plenty of natural talent and speed on a bike, but are yet to fully show what they are capable of on a Supercross track.

But for us it is hard to look past Brayton's Penrite Honda team-mate, Brett Metcalfe as a genuine title challenger, after taking the win in his home state of South Australia last year, Metcalfe will be looking take it to Brayton all year long in 2019.

Jay Wilson will swap the #6 out for the big ole number 1 after winning the SX2 class in 2018

The SX2 class in some ways is the polar opposite of the SX1 class. While the SX1 class has a current American champ being chased by a host of Australian hopefuls, in the 250F class we have a current Australian Champ in Jay Wilson who will have his hands full this season from more than a handful of American racers.

Between Penrite Honda's Chris Blose and Mitchell Oldenburg, Serco Yamaha's Jacob Hayes, Empire Kawasaki's Bradley Taft and Raceline KTM's Joshua Osby, it is hard to not see our podium's littered with American talent at the end of Saturday night at the five rounds.

Unfortunately for Jay, it is not just the American invasion he has to battle against, with plenty of Australian talent looking to take his number one plate away. Serco Yamaha's Aaron Tanti has shown he has the speed to win and will be a big threat at each round, along with the current MX2 champion in DPH Husqvarna's Wilson Todd.

Kyle Webster is having a breakout season, combining his outright pace with consistency and will be a real title threat and don't count out Davey Motorsports KTM backed Dylan Wills along with leading privateer Thomas Ravenhorst.

With no SXD class, there will also be plenty of young talent trying to show they are the next generation of Australian SX star, with the likes of Raceline KTM's rising star Regan Duffy leading the charge.

Joshua Osby will be one of many American's taking aim at Wilson's number 1 plate in 2019

Along with the two main classes, spectators at the opening round will also get to see some great junior racing with the 85cc class lining up to race along with a Pit Bike race that has some pretty good talent ready to throw down some craziness.

While there is plenty of talent on track, there are a few riders who were thought we might see on the entry list that are not showing.

Nathan Crawford confirmed he will miss this year's Australian Supercross series, but at this stage has not revealed what his future race plans are. Dean Ferris name is not on the rider list, though that is not too much of a surprise for a rider that has focused more on motocross throughout his career.

Former KSF racer, American Justin Rodbell was meant to race for the Raceline KTM outfit but confirmed on his Instagram page earlier this week that he was no longer in Australia after realising he has been here on the wrong Visa. It looks as though it will rule him out for the entire summer at least.

And of course one of our favorites will be missing in action, with Hayden Mellross being sidelined with a knee injury sustained during the later stages of this years MX Nationals.

There might be a couple me we can't think of right now, I'm sure we will be told if we have missed someone.

There is plenty of talent in this years SX1 class which will only get deeper at the final two rounds in Auckland and Melbourne.

We can't wait for Saturday's action to get started and like all race fans will be looking for all the info we can get our hands on in the lead up to the opening round, we will continue to post all the team releases as they come through over the next 24 hours and tune in ourselves to the Australian Audio podcasts that have also hit the digital airwaves over today.

Over on Joe Steven's Inside Dirt PodCast guests include Yarrive Konsky (Penrite Honda Factory Racing Team Boss) along with Brett Metcalfe and CDR Yamaha's Dan Reardon.

That is about all for now, we will continue to post up any more info as it comes to hand, for now, check out the rider list for the opening round this Saturday night in Brisbane.

These three veteran racers will tbe the three to beat in the SX1 class when the gates drop

SX1 RIDER LIST
1. Justin Brayton - Honda
3. Jayden Rykers - Suzuki
J05. Jesse Madden - Honda
7. Dylan Long - Kawasaki
14. Jesse Dobson - Husqvarna
21. Justin Carafa - Honda
24. Brett Metcalfe - Honda
25. Dylan Wood- KTM
30. Joel Wightman Honda
32. Joel Cigliano Kawasaki
33. Cody Dyce Suzuki
47. Todd Waters Husqvarna
56. Jono Krusic Husqvarna
57. Jackson Richardson Honda
70. Lawson Bopping Kawasaki
86. Richie Evans Yamaha
122. Daniel Reardon Yamaha
481. Blake Cobbin Husqvarna
485. Caleb Ward KTM
602. Lochie Latimer - Yamaha

The SX2 class is deep with plenty of local and overseas talent.

SX2 RIDER LIST
1. Jay Wilson - Yamaha
3. Chris Blose - Honda
5. Jacob Hayes - Yamaha
7. Connor Tierney - Yamaha
16. Kaleb Barham - Husqvarna
18. Aaron Tanti - Yamaha
19. Bradley Taft - Kawasaki
20. Dylan Marchand - Yamaha
22. Rhys Budd - Honda
24. Chandler Burns - KTM
26. Jake Salems - KTM
27. Riley Dukes - Husqvarna
28. Jake Cahir - Husqvarna
29. Josh Brewster - Suzuki
34. Brandon Steel - Kawasaki
35. Ricky Latimer - Yamaha
36. Jaxon Hadlow - Honda
38. Morgan Fogarty - KTM
45. Jack Kukas - Yamaha
46. Hugh McKay - Yamaha
56. Riley Stephens - Honda
64. Dylan Wills - KTM
66. Mitchell Oldenburg - Honda
71. Joshua Osby - KTM
72. Regan Duffy - KTM
75. Caleb Goullet - Honda
96. Kyle Webster - Honda
97. Lachlan Okeefe - Suzuki
145. Maximus Purvis - Yamaha
188. Tomas Ravenhorst - KTM
754 Jayce Cosford - Yamaha