Australian Supercross Round 2 Review:
Raceline Pirelli KTM’s SX2 pilots Jay Wilson and Morgan Fogarty charged to impressive finishes over the weekend, with Round 2 of the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship taking place in the presence of a packed crowd in Bacchus Marsh. With Fogarty returning from injury for his Supercross debut, and Wilson looking to gain valuable points to aid in his hunt for an SX2 Championship, the pair headed in to the weekend with a lot riding on their performances. For Wilson, despite Round 2 getting to a shaky start, the experienced Queenslander put it all together when it mattered. With the 23-year-old battling illness in Victoria, Wilson did well to qualify in 13th position, then when racing got underway a first turn crash in the heat race saw him finish in sixth. But it was the main event that Wilson shone, charging from outside the top ten to an impressive fifth place. Wilson continues to maintain fourth in the SX2 Championship standings, only 13 points shy of the lead.
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“Today could have turned out very differently, so to finish in fifth in the main event and with solid points, we’re happy,” Wilson shared.“Before the weekend I actually came down with a stomach bug and we were battling that all day, so to salvage a fifth on a bad day is positive – on a track like that you needed to be on you’re A-game, and we weren’t able to bring that this weekend so to get through safe and healthy and with a consistent result is an achievement.“For me, it’s about the bigger picture – you can’t win a championship at Round 2 but you can definitely lose it. We rode smart and calculated tonight, we did what we needed to. We are only 13 points off the lead and three points off second with a lot of races to go, so we will keep working.” Morgan Fogarty, who stepped up to the SX2 class for this year’s championship was nothing short of impressive in his first appearance for the team. After qualifying in 21st, Fogarty finished in ninth in his heat race, forcing the youngster into the LCQ. But once again the Victorian exceeded all expectations, racing to fourth and qualifying for the night show. In the main event, Fogarty stormed to 12th, finishing just shy of the top ten in his first ever SX2 final.“My night was surprisingly good. I am happy with how it ended, I’m in one piece and I achieved what I set out to,” Fogarty shared.“I got into the main event, and I got through the whole race – I made some passes, but I didn’t get the best start so that’s what I’ll be working on.
“The track was pretty crazy, and that first race out there was a bit nerve racking but we all have to do it at some point, and it’s good that we were able to achieve a lot of our goals tonight.”The third round of the Australian Supercross Championship will take place at Virginia in South Australia on Saturday October 28.
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Australian Supercross Round 1 Review:
There is always a lot to take in at the opening round of any national championship, and it was certainly no different at the opening round of this years Australian Supercross Championship at Jimboomba. Below we will break down the evening as we viewed it through the view finder of a Canon 7D MkII , giving our thoughts on the track, the venue, the atmosphere and each and every rider who made the nights two main events.
The Venue:
The Jimboomba venue was probably in the best shape it has been in over the past few years that Scott Bannan promotions have been holding racing there. With a VIP Bar and general admission bar situated down one end of the track, along with show rides and plenty of food vendors, the start line end once again had a party atmosphere going on all night long, while temporary grandstand seating along both sides of the track along with another host of food vendors ensured the majority of the event had a family friendly vibe going on. The crowd itself looked to be a little down compared to past events, though still a great turn out for an Australian Supercross, with race fans certainly making enough noise to make for a great nights entertainment getting right into all the on track action. There was a big screen that was airing all the action live as it happened including a timing screen at the bottom, keeping spectators at the venue updated. The one downside to the Jimboomba is the limited phone and in turn internet service, making it near impossible to get constant information out from the venue. The Track: Incorporating a big downhill starting platform, two back-to-back technical rhythm sections that certainly took some time for riders to dial in the track had plenty to keep spectators interested and riders on their toes. The downhill start section also doubled as a corner wall ride, which was a cool little addition and lead straight in to a short whoop section, though even with it being short it did catch a few riders out. Another interesting point to the start was the length of the start straight that ran the full length of the track, making for a high speed first turn. The soil was the traditional Jimboomba slick black clay which itself proved to be a challenge for the riders.
The Racing:
SX1:Despite the low numbers in the SX1 class, with only 14 riders taking to the gate for the nights main event, the racing on track was tight, with plenty of great battles throughout the field. Add to the fact that over half the SX1 field took some type of soil sample in the main, the final lap chart at the end of the 20 lap race was a mish mash of lines going up and down the page. The highlight of the SX1 final has to go to Dean Ferris and Dan Reardon who banged bars as they battled for second position, with a fair mention for Luke Clout who rounded the end of lap one in second to last before finishing in 4th. Up front Justin Brayton was in a league of his own. The one low light in the SX1 main event was just that, as two light towers went down in the closing stages of the race, though there was still enough light from the remaining light towers for riders to finish the final lap. SX2: The SX2 race in some way’s was a lot like the SX1 main event, with Hayden Mellross moving his way into the lead in the opening laps before blowing the field away to win by 10 seconds. Behind Mellross a great battle developed all race long as Faith who at one stage lead and then looked comfortable in second position was slowly reeled in by Mitchell Evans, Jay Wilson and a fast finishing Wilson Todd, who all made their way by 2016 champ Jackson Richardson. At the line the five riders were separated by less than five seconds. Looking back through my images it is easy to tell the battle for second was a good one, as nearly every photo I have is of those five riders, shooting them as the came by before dropping the camera down on many occasions to try and catch a glimpse of what was unfolding.SX1 Riders: 1st Justin Brayton – Really nothing to fault with Justin Brayton’s night. He fired his Honda CRF450R to pole position before going on to take a comfortable heat win and dominating main event win. It is going to take a bit to steal a win away from the American this series.