Supercross

SX2 Team Talk – SX2 Team Riders and Managers Relfect On Aus SX Round 1

Posted:

Tuesday, September 20th, 2016

8:15 PM

SX2 Team Talk – SX2 Team Riders and Managers Relfect On Aus SX Round 1

Penrite Honda

The Penrite Honda Team won the opening round of the Australian SX2 Supercross Championship in Jimboomba. Two-time Australian Champion Gavin Faith put in a flawless performance, taking out fastest qualifier, before winning both his heat race and the main event.

What is perhaps more exciting is that Faith believes the entire team are far from running at full capacity.

"I got on the bike for the first time on Thursday. Everyone worked hard to pull it all together ahead of the weekend's first round. I believe the team and I can make further improvements. We sat down to debrief and we have a plan to keep us on top."

Daniel Kersnovske, the teams assistant manager and Faith's crew chief agrees with his rider.

"We have a decent amount of time between rounds to improve the bike and help Gavin get comfortable. He and Josh [Cachia] will benefit from this break."

The teams second rider, Josh Cachia surpassed his own expectations by taking second in his heat race and sixth in the main event.

"We had a plan and we exceeded it; I couldn't be happier. As I get faster, I find things that we can improve on the bike and in me. I am looking forward to getting back to work during the break".

Wade Hunter - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Serco Yamaha

Serco Yamaha‰Ûªs Wade Hunter has put a tough MX Nationals series behind him to bounce back and take third place at the opening round of the Australian Supercross Championship, held last night at Jimboomba, just south of Brisbane.

Contesting the very competitive SX2 (250cc) class, Hunter claimed third just ahead of team mate, Jackson Richardson in fourth, in a good night for the Serco Yamaha team that has both riders well placed in the six round championship.

From moment he first turned a wheel on the Jimboomba circuit, Wade Hunter meant business. Determined to get his 2016 season back on track, he quickly got the track wired and then set about putting in some fast laps and locking down his race pace.

He easily qualified for the 15 lap main event but as the field completed lap 1, Hunter was back in eighth place and with a lot of work to do on the tight Jimboomba circuit. He put his head down and started to pick off the riders in front of him one at a time and by lap six had already made his way to third.

Unfortunately for Hunter, the leading duo of US import, Gavin Faith, and Hayden Mellross had already moved well ahead of the pack and while he tried, Hunter couldn‰Ûªt bridge the gap to the lead pair and finished third for the night in a great effort.

‰ÛÏIt‰Ûªs nice to be back on the podium,‰Û

Jackson Richardson - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Drafted into the Serco Yamaha team at the 11th hour after a hand injury had usual pilot, Wilson Todd sidelined, Jackson Richardson made the most of opportunity taking fourth place at the season opener.

Richardson, who has been based in the US this year, only returned back to Australia last week and jumped on a Yamaha YZ250F for the first time, in the days leading up to the opening round.

Richardson started the main event in fifth place and moved to fourth by the mid-way point in a workmanlike performance but one he hopes to improve in the coming rounds.

‰ÛÏThe last week has been a bit crazy in getting the ride with Serco, doing some testing and just getting some time on the bike but we managed to get through and finishing fourth is a pretty good result considering what has happened.

‰ÛÏWe have some time before the next round which will allow me to get some more riding in a feel a bit more settled on the bike so I will be shooting for the podium at round two.

‰ÛÏThank you to the Serco Yamaha team for this opportunity and for their efforts over the last week to make this ride available,‰Û

Jimmy Decotis - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Honda Genuine Racing Team

Honda Genuine Racing Team's Reigning 250 champion, Jimmy Decotis remains positive following his seventh place finish at the opening round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship.

"I made the most of a frustrating final. I got an average start and got caught up with some crashes and personal mistakes. I had to change my lines whilst passing riders and there wasn't a lot of traction.

"I learned a lot from this race and will take the positives from the weekend and get prepared for round two. I know the speed is there, as I was second in qualifying. So it is onward un upward from here."

Lewis Woods - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

KTM Australia

In SX2 racing, Davey Motorsports rider and 2015 number three Lewis Woods made the best of a pre-season preparation stunted by injury and appalling recent Victorian weather, the 27-year-old from Bacchus Marsh finishing eighth.

‰ÛÏI didn't do the motocross so it's awesome to be back, the guys at Davey Motorsports have got some real good guys helping me." Woods said. "My mechanic Paulie, my trainer and my girlfriend they all come away with me so we've got a tight little group and everyone at KTM has been good.

"I‰Ûªm looking forward to the next five rounds, but my night here was really bad - we won here last year, but this time we just struggled with bike setup, I‰Ûªd had a decent crash in the lead up and with the weather down in Melbourne it prevented us from getting the testing done that I‰Ûªd have liked to.

"I got eighth which isn't the result we are looking for, we want to be on the box because that's how we finished off last year, but we've got four weeks now until round two and if we do these changes, we‰Ûªll qualifying better, start better, and we can be up front.‰Û

Jordan Hill - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Yamalube Yamaha Racing

The Yamalube Yamaha Racing team racers of Jordan Hill and Mitch Evans made an encouraging start at the opening round of the Australian Supercross Championship with both riders making their debut in the SX2 category and showing they will be a force to be reckoned with as the championship progresses.

Both riders have stepped up to the SX2 class for this years‰Ûª championship and more than held their own against the established Australian and international riders in front of a huge crowd at the Jimboomba-X Stadium on Saturday Night.

Jordan Hill finished the night in ninth place and rode well throughout the 15 lap main event. He mistimed the start and was towards the tail of the field on the opening lap made moved his way forward to finish ninth and within sight of the riders directly ahead of him.

‰ÛÏMy goal tonight was to finish inside the top 10 and I was able to do that which is good. Racing in a field with this many quality riders is a bit of an eye opener and the intensity in the first few laps caught me by surprise as bikes and riders were going everywhere and in every corner I saw front wheels coming at me.

‰ÛÏI managed to get through but I now know that I need to get up to race speed faster and also be a lot more aware of what is going on around me as you can easily lose several positions in one corner if you aren‰Ûªt thinking.

‰ÛÏThank you to the Yamalube Yamaha Team for their hard work over the last month in getting prepared for supercross and hopefully we can continue to improve the results as the championship goes along,‰Û

Mitch Evans

For Mitch Evans, the 2015 SXD (under 19) champion, it was a bitter sweet night that promised a lot but was undone by a heavy fall during the main event.

Evans showed the field that he has the speed to run near the front when he qualified in fifth place and matched the speed of the big name riders.

In the main event, Evans was inside the top 10 and beginning to move forward when he got sideways just before take-off in a tricky jump section and went down hard. The impact took the wind out of him and he was slow to return to his bike but to his credit, he rejoined the race a few laps down and then hooked in behind the leaders to watch and learn.

He was credited with a 16th place finish.

‰ÛÏIt didn‰Ûªt end the way I wanted it to but I did gain a lot of confidence in knowing that I can run with the lead guys and be challenging for podium positions based on how things went tonight.

‰ÛÏMy preparation for round one hasn‰Ûªt been great as my school commitment have been pretty heavy lately, but we are on holidays now so I will be able to dedicate more time to riding and training and go after a better result at round two.‰Û

Wade Kirkland - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Raceline Pirelli KTM

Raceline Pirelli KTM got to a slightly bumpy but safe start to the 2016 Australian Supercross Championships at Jimboomba on the weekend, with both SX2 riders Wade Kirkland and Dylan Wills showing promising form throughout the round.

Thousands of spectators poured through the gates in Queensland on Saturday night, and both Kirkland and Wills were aiming to put on an impressive performance at round one throughout their heat races and 15 lap main event.

Despite having only rode Supercross for one week prior to the season opener, Kirkland showed plenty of potential at Jimboomba on the weekend. After finishing eighth in his heat, Kirkland raced to a hard fought 12th position in the SX2 main event, proving that he‰Ûªs a natural when it comes to big jumps, and tight man-made circuits.

‰ÛÏIt wasn‰Ûªt too bad of a start to the Supercross series, it was my first ever Supercross race so 12th overall is pretty good,‰Û

Joel Wightman - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

CRF Honda Racing

The 2016 Australian Supercross Championship roared into life last Saturday night (September 17) at Jimboomba X Stadium in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, with CRF Honda Racing riders Joel Wightman and Kyle Webster taking to the grid in the hotly-contested SX2 category aboard their potent HGO-lubricated Honda CRF250R thumpers.

With a strong and vocal crowd in attendance, the Australian Supercross title kick-off delivered an action-packed evening of high-flying two-wheeled entertainment, which ultimately saw Wightman finish in tenth place in the SX2 main event, while Webster crashed out mid-race while running in the top ten.

‰ÛÏWith so many good riders lining up in the SX2 class this year, I always knew the start of the Supercross championship was going to be tough ‰ÛÒ and that‰Ûªs exactly what it was,‰Û

Connor Tierney - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Husqvarna Australia

Connor Tierney made a solid fist of his supercross debut, the Husqvarna FC250 rider qualifying for the main event just two weeks after hitting a set of whoops for the first time.

Tierney belied his lack of experience with a fourth-place finish in the last chance qualifier granting him passage to the main event.

Unfortunately however the determined Western Australian ran into misfortune when a rider he was following baulked at a jump, causing Tierney to go sailing over the handlebars.

Despite being hit by several following riders, he remounted to salvage 13th place, and gained valuable experience to build on in his first Supercross season.

‰ÛÏIt was an experience. It was pretty crazy, just mayhem, there was so much carnage. But it was an awesome thing, and I really enjoyed it. In qualifying I had a very good start, but I came into the second turn and I came down, and started a bit of a pileup. I went to get going and went down again so I ended up 10th qualifier.

"That meant I had to go in through the LCQ, where I pulled a holeshot, and made it through to the main. I had a really bad gate pick from that, but I actually pulled top-five start from there! But then, at the Dragon‰Ûªs Back, one of the guys in front of me committed to it, but then pulled out at the last minute and I just couldn't stop so I went over the bars. I got landed on a few times and just got back up and finished the race in 13th.

"But I'm happy just to walk away and get a top 15 in my first Supercross - that's good, and I've got something to build on.‰Û

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Supercross

SX2 Team Talk – SX2 Team Riders and Managers Relfect On Aus SX Round 1

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