SX2
SX2 QUALIFYING
Unlike the opening round where only the top twenty from qualifying from the SX2 class advanced to the nights’ racing, the round two format allowed all 31 riders to head to the heat races.
Qualifying was again dominated by the American racers, with the five imports posting the top five fastest times on the tough and technical track.
Round one winner Serco Yamaha’s Jacob Hayes lead the way with a lap time of 45.935s, edging out the Penrite Factory Honda pairing of Chirs Blose and Mitchell Oldenburg who both posted times in the low 46’s.
Raceline KTM’s Joshua Osby and Empire Kawasaki’s Bradley Taft continued the American onslaught. Serco Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti led the way for the Aussies in 6th position on 47.227-seconds, well over a half a second down on 5th fastest Taft.
Current SX2 champion Jay Wilson finished 7th fastest. Young gun, Kaleb Barham aboard his Mat Mladin Racing Husqvarna impressed with the 8th best time.
SX2 HEAT 1
A revised racing format saw the top seven riders from each heat qualify directly to the 15-lap main event. The remaining riders from each heat then headed to the LCQ, where the top six would then advance to make a 20-rider field for the final.
Osby, who won one of the two double-header finals in Brisbane last week, again showed he has race-winning pace, sneaking under DPH Husqvarna’s Wilson Todd in the first turn to take control of the race lead. Hayes soon followed up into second position.
The race up front emained unchanged all the way to the finish, with the prime action happening behind the leading three.
Tomas Ravenhorst, who had a night to forget at round one, held down 4th for every lap bar the last when Raceline KTM’s Regan Duffy got the better of him. Qualifying standout Barham finished the race in 6th.
Taking the last direct qualifying spot for the nights main event was Taft who overcame a first-lap crash before dissecting his way through the field in order to bypass the LCQ.
Victorian privateer Geran Stapleton, who sat out the opening round, was the first rider through to the LCQ, finishing 8th.
SX2 HEAT 2
Penrite Pirelli CRF Honda Racing’s Rhys Budd gave in insight to his potential when he led the field for the entire opening lap of the second heat. In stark contrast, Chris Blose, one of the pre-race favourites, found himself in last position after going down early on the opening lap.
Budd’s race lead was short-lived, Tanti and Oldenburg both passing the Honda racer before putting on a show for the crowd, a back and forth battle ensued that saw the two pass each other on numerous occasions.
In the end though Oldenburg proved too good, edging out Tanti for the win. Jay Wilson coming home in third.
Round one qualifying stand-out Connor Tierney again impressed aboard his GPH Recruitment Yamaha to finish 4th, ahead of Budd and Davey Motorsports KTM racer Dylan Wills.
If the show out front for the lead was good, the race for the final spot direct to the main was a barnstormer. Blose making an amazing three passes on the last lap to cross the line in 7th spot, just over a half-a-second ahead of TLR Yamaha’s Ricky Latimer.
SX2 LCQ
Both Geran Stapleton and Ricky Latimer made up for missing a direct qualifying spot from the heats into the main event by one plac by making the most of the LCQ. Stapleton taking the win and Latimer in third, joining second-placed Morgan Fogarty of the Davey Motorsports KTM team in advancing to the nights big show.
WBR Yamaha’s Jack Kukas and Top Gun Motorcycles backed Jayce Gosford finished 4th and 5th respectively. Davey Motorsports KTM’s Chandler Burns finished 6th to take the last spot on the gate.
SX2 SUPERPOLE
For round two, the top three SX2 racers from each heat also made an appearance in the nights Superpole competition to decide the first six gate picks for the main event.
Hayes topped the timesheet with a blistering 45.020s lap time, half-a-second ahead of Oldenburg and Osby as American riders filled the top three spots, followed by the Australian trio of Wilson, Tanti and Todd.
SX2 FINAL
Wilson Todd jumped out to an early lead when the SX2 main event got underway, leading Joshua Osby and Mitchell Oldenburg through the opening two laps. Round one winner Jacob Hayes had his work cut out from 7th position.
Two other riders who also had some work to do were American’s Blose and Taft, as happened in each of their heat races they both suffered early race separate crashes again in the main event, leaving them at the back of the field. Blose crossing the finish line at the end of lap two dead last.
On lap three the race was turned on its head as both race leader Todd, and Hayes who was battling for 5th, both crashed at nearly the same time on the same straight, though in different spots and separate incidents.
The crashes were big enough to put both riders out of the event, Hayes eventually walking from the track, while Todd was left in the care of the Racesafe medics.
Out front Oldenburg took advantage of Todd’s misfortune, running away with the lead and quickly setting up an unassailable gap back to second position.
The fight for the final podium positions was where all the action unfolded, as Osby held down second place from Jay Wilson with Tanti in 4th.
Tanti first caught and passed Wilson on lap six, then with just five laps remaining made his way through on Osby to take over second position.
Osby was not done though, and on the final lap closed the gap to second placed Tanti.
Out front, Oldenburg was near faultless walking away from the field to win by six-and-a-half seconds, elevating himself to third positions in the championship standings.
Behind him, Osby not only passed Tanti on the final lap but found a way to gap the leading Australian by two-seconds to finish on the second step of the podium, moving into second position in the championship.
Tanti may have been relegated to third for the round, but it was still enough for him to take over the points lead. Tanti will now take hold of the red plate when the third round of the series heads to Wollongong on Saturday the 9th of November.
Jay Wilson finished 4th, 12-seconds ahead of Blose who put in a remarkable ride to keep his championship hopes alive, passing 15 riders in just 13 laps to finish 5th.
Regan Duffy continued his impressive foray into Supercross racing, building speed as the night went on to finish in a very respectable 6th position, ahead of Tierney in 7th and Ravenhorst in 8th, the leading two privateers.
Taft rebounded from his crash to finish 9th, while Rhys Budd continued his excellent form to round out the top ten.
SX2 Results
Source: MCNews.com.au