Dan Reardon has revealed he suffered a punctured hand during main event two at Saturday night’s Monster Energy S-X Open Auckland, the SX1 title contender pressing on to salvage fifth overall.

The CDR Yamaha Monster Energy rider looked strong early on in New Zealand, qualifying second fastest and finishing second in his heat.

He went onto record a 5-7-2 scorecard, leading four of eight laps in the final outing despite the hand injury, ultimately earning fifth overall in what was the fourth round of the Australian Supercross Championship.

“I knew the importance of these final two rounds as having the extra US riders can really separate the points,” Reardon explained. “I started out strongly in qualifying and was confident going into the triple crown format.

“The triple crown format just amplifies the aggression on the track and the importance of great starts and unfortunately, my starts suffered in all three races.

“I also took a hit in the second race and punctured my hand so I list a few valuable points on the night and in the championship. I will let me hand heal this week, get back into training and be ready for the final round in Melbourne on 30 November.”

Reardon still holds down third in the championship standings, nine points behind series leader and teammate Luke Clout.

A head-knock from a heat race crash is what denied Kyle Webster of starting in the SX2 main events at the 2019 Monster Energy S-X Open Auckland, as Racesafe declared him unfit to continue.

It looked to be a promising night for the Penrite Pirelli CRF Honda Racing rider, who qualified second fastest and led majority of his heat race before crashing heavily in a rhythm section.

He remounted and finished the outing in sixth, however a medical evaluation post-race deemed the impact too severe to continue racing.

“Qualifying in the afternoon was really good and I posted second fastest time, just 0.02 seconds behind Chris Blose,” said Webster.

“The heat race was going great and I was leading, but then I came up short on one of the jumps in a rhythm section and I hit my head hard enough that Racesafe said I had to sit out the rest of the night.”

It’s been a tough month for Webster, who was forced to miss round two of the Australian Supercross Championship in Port Adelaide after suffering partially collapsed lungs in a training crash.

Brett Metcalfe has described racing against the likes of Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) at the Monster Energy S-X Open Auckland as nostalgic, his breakthrough podium finish alongside the American import ‘taking him back’ to his time in AMA Supercross.

The Penrite Honda Racing challenger was impressive all night long, leading a portion of main event one before going onto record a 2-5-3 scorecard for third overall.

The podium, which marks Metcalfe’s first of the series, comes as a timely boost for the South Australian after experiencing a pair of admittedly challenging appearances at Port Adelaide and Wollongong.

“It was good – the first round of this series went good for me, then I had a big crash at Adelaide which took the wind out of my sails,” Metcalfe explained. “It’s nice that the body is feeling better, I’m feeling good and having some good rides. It was fun.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in the States – that first race I was leading, and Jason [Anderson] came by me, and just to get a smell of that race gas – oh man, it took me back to the AMA days. I’m like ‘yeah this is good, riding with one of the best guys in the world right now – this is awesome’.

“I was having a good time – I struggled a bit in the whoops and lost a couple of spots there. Luke [Clout] is riding great this year and the competition’s deep here, especially with the injection of Jason, Joey [Savatgy] and Chad [Reed]. It’s just good vibes riding at the front.”

Metcalfe sits fourth in the championship standings, eight points shy of third’s Dan Reardon (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy).