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Empire Kawasaki completes round 1 of the Australian Supercross Championship
Empire Kawasaki's Richardson has completed his supercross comeback and Constantinou has shone at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
Jackson Richardson has completed his first professional race in several years with a convincing eighth-place finish at the opening round of the 2022 Australian Supercross Championship in Melbourne, as teammate Jai Constantinou posted an impressive top-five result in SX2.
Racing the Kawasaki KX450, Richardson rebounded to fifth in his SX1 heat after an early crash, giving him plenty of confidence that he could improve in the 20-lap main event.
Following a mid-pack start to the final race of the night, the Queenslander made quick passes to move into seventh, where he remained for most of the race. In the closing laps he gave up one position, to cross the finish-line in eighth and gain crucial race laps in the process.
“It felt so good to get back behind the gate and race supercross again,” Richardson said. “The results themselves weren’t anything to write home about and I tightened up towards the end of the race, but considering the short time I’ve been on the bike, it was a positive night. We learnt heaps and I’m excited to see what we can do at round two.”
In the SX2 class, mixed fortunes were had by Constantinou and Haruki Yokoyama. While Constantinou enjoyed a stellar fifth-place performance at his home event of the four-round season, Yokoyama’s night came to a premature end after a crash in the whoops.
After finishing ninth in his heat race, Constantinou started mid-pack in the SX2 main event. Armed with the Kawasaki KX250, he remained composed and capitalised on the mistakes of other riders to gradually work his way towards the front of the field, crossing the finish-line in an impressive P5.
“The track was tricky tonight and it caught a lot of riders out with how slippery it was,” said Constantinou. “I got caught in a crash early in my heat and didn’t get a good jump out of the gate in the main, but I focused on staying upright and letting the race come to me. I’m stoked to finish the night with a top five, and I know we can improve from here over the next three rounds.”
Also in the SX2 class, Yokoyama showed plenty of promise early in the night after hole-shotting his heat race and finishing the race with a solid third-place result.
The talented Japanese racer and his Kawasaki KX250 then surged to the front of the SX2 main event with his second holeshot of the night, but lost a couple of positions early and settled into fourth.
Unfortunately, Yokoyama’s night would end soon after when he crashed hard at the end of the whoop section and DNF'd the race with a dislocated shoulder.
“It was a tough night, but there were lots of positives,” said Yokoyama. “My starts were really good and I was able to holeshot both my races. A third in the heat had me excited for the main and I was placed well early in that race, but I had a big crash at the end of the whoops and dislocated my shoulder. It was a disappointing end to what had been a good day, but I’m hopeful I will still line up for Adelaide next weekend.”
The second round of the Australian Supercross Championship will be held at Adelaide Showground, South Australia, this Saturday, 29 October.
2022 AUSX Rd1 Melbourne, VIC - Round Results
SX1 main event results:
1. Justin Brayton 2. Aaron Tanti 3. Dean Wilson 8. Jackson Richardson (Empire Kawasaki)
SX2 main event results:
1. Max Anstie 2. Cole Thompson 3. Nathan Crawford 5. Jai Constantinou (Empire Kawasaki) 20. Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki)