Rising US supercross star, Lux Turner, announced his arrival at the AUSX Supercross Championship claiming victory on both nights of the opening weekend of racing, at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe.
Turner, based in California, was drafted into the Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Team to contest the championship in the SX2 (250cc) class, made a huge impressive with his fast and aggressive riding style to win the double header weekend and a near perfect debut in Australia.He jetted into Australia two weeks prior to the opening round and spent time adjusting to the YZ250F and getting acquainted with the team but come Saturday afternoon it was done to business and Turner turned it on for the 14,000 fans in attendance across both days.
He came out all guns glazing in the first of two, ten lap finals on Saturday night, taking the race victory after fighting his way to the front in the early going. Then the SX2 field has about 30 minutes to face the start line again for the second and final leg of the night.
Turner again hit the lead, only to go down with another rider during the opening lap. He remounted as quickly as possible but with the field still tightly bunched, he dropped down the leader board and just outside the top 10.
With no time to waste, he mounted a charge through the pack and ever position drew him closer to the round win. He moved into fifth and he was tied for the round win, but with just a lap and a half to go, he was able to pass his way into fourth and the 1-4 results was enough to secure the round win and a great start to the championship.
Confidence was high as the riders returned for day two and round two. It was a hot and humid day in Queensland, but Turner again started well, posting the fastest lap in qualifying and ready to do battle when the main events came round.
Again, he charged to a race win in the opening moto. He moved to the front on the opening lap and held on to take the race win by around three seconds.
Race two he was quickly into second place and that’s all he needed to take the round win. With the pitboard informing him of the situation, Turner locked down his second place and rode a safe and smart race to cross the line in second and make it back-to-back victories on debut in Australia.
“What an awesome weekend and it went every better than I had hoped for,” Turner says post-race. “The team have been so good, from the moment I landed, they have been nothing but supportive and they have built such a good bike that I loved racing it.
“Both nights went well and not too many issues on the track. With the shorter races, it’s pretty intense early as every rider knows a good position on the opening lap is important, so its pretty wild out there at times.
“The weekend vibe was cool, and the Australian people have been so nice to me. I’m having a great time and really enjoying my stay. But its back into it again this week and start to get ready for round three in Sydney in a couple of weeks’ time.”
It was an almost weekend for Ryder Kingsford. After carrying an ankle injury, the last week leading into the opening weekend, Kingsford was still able to charge through the weekend.
Night one saw him finish in fifth in both races to take fifth on the night in a consistent start to the championship. He was a little disappointed with his performance and vowed to make a step forward the following day with the opening night jitters out of the way.
The difference was obvious the moment he hit the track. He set the pace in qualifying, and it was only a last lap heater by his teammate that kept him from setting the pace in the afternoon sessions.
Come race one and with a top five start, Kingsford made short work of the riders in front of him and slotted into second place, directly behind Turner. The gap had already leaked out to three seconds, and the pair traded fast laps until the checkered flag flew with Kingsford not losing a bike length.
The duo was in formation again in race two. Kingsford was in third, just behind Turner and things were looking good for a team 1-2 on the night if things stayed the same. Unfortunately, that unravelled a few laps later when Kingsford got lose at the end of the whoop section and got stuck on a berm. He took some time to get remounted and get the bike restarted.
he rejoined the race and continued to push forward. He moved into eighth place and had two riders directly ahead of him. If he could pass both, he would still finish on the podium for the night. He then made a move on the inside of the first rider, only for the rear wheel to lose traction and he fell awkwardly.
Again, he picked himself up and continued on with the race, but the damage was done, and the podium was gone. He finished the race in 11th place. His 2-11 results gave him sixth for the night and he now sits third in the SX2 championship after two rounds.
“I’m just frustrated and disappointed with myself. I didn’t ride well on Saturday night, but then I found the pace for today and didn’t get the result, so it wasn’t the weekend I wanted.
“I think I capable of winning these races, but I wasn’t able to get it done this weekend, so I need to take a look at what happened and how I can improve. My riding feels like it was good on Sunday, just too many mistakes at the wrong time, but I will get myself sorted and come back at round three and get after it again,” Kingsford offers.
It was a weekend of getting back in the swing of Supercross for Jayce Cosford. He has only returned to riding a couple of weeks ago since damaging his shoulder at the final round of ProMX back in August.
With the limited preparations, the expectations weren’t high as Supercross can be tough to just jump back in the deep and make work, but Cosford rode sensibly all weekend and finished in the top 10 on both nights.
He finished eighth at round one with 9-7 results and then improved on Sunday to finish with 9-5 finishes. The two consistent nights of racing has in him seventh place and just a handful of points away from the top five.
“I did a pretty good job on my shoulder, and it took longer than expected to recover so my bike time was limited coming into the weekend. I felt a bit rusty but got better each time on the track and the final moto on Sunday was a good way to finish the weekend.
“We have a week off before Sydney and I’m feeling fine after now, so I will continue to build over the next couple of weeks and pick up where we left off in Redcliffe,” Cosford explains.
Shark Park in The Shire hosts round three of the championship on October 25. Tickets are now on sale.
