00 Elite Rider Development Push Through Intense Adelaide AUSX Sprint Round
The 00 Elite Rider Development program has emerged from the Adelaide Supercross Sprint Round of AUSX with a display of competitive speed and costly mistakes, across a drama-filled evening of racing. Top 3 finishes across finals were blended with crashes, collisions and a steep learning curve in the inaugural sprint format of the AUSX Championship.
Aaron Tanti SX1
Aaron Tanti would once again factor into the lead battle across multiple Finals in SX1. Executing great starts and track position in 2 out of the 4 Finals, Tanti posted 9,3,2,9 finishes across the X4 sprint finals. In contrast to his Top 3 finishes, incidents with other riders and mistakes prevented Tanti from landing on the Overall podium for the Round. Unable to show his true potential, a 5th Overall on the night did not reflect Tanti’s speed and progress at Round 4.
Round 3 : 5th
SX1 Championship: 5th
Kaleb Barham SX2
Kaleb Barham continued his progress towards the front of the SX2 field in speed and track position, battling for Top 3 positions and moving forward through the night of racing. Barham would post 5,9,4,6 Final scores, with the 2nd Final result hurting his overall finish for the Round with 7th. Taking the positives from the night, Barham will now focus on representing Australia as a wild card for this coming weekend’s World Supercross WSX GP in Perth, WA.
Round 3 : 7th
SX2 Championship: 7th
Kayden Minear SX2
Kayden Minear rode to a consistent night across the Supercross Sprint, where an opening Final holeshot and early speed showing great flashes of race winning skills as Minear continued to learn the ropes of professional Supercross. With minimal mistakes and incidents with other riders, Minear landed 5th Overall for Round 4 with 6,6,5,4 Final finishes, as he now looks to Perth as a WSX Wildcard for KTM Factory Racing.
Round 3 : 5th
SX2 Championship: 5th
Head Coach Nathan Crawford commented on the performance of the 00 Elite performance of the Factory backed riders: “The tight and technical track combined with the Sprint format made for extremely close racing. It was spectacular for the crowd to watch and our crew showed great speed and there was potential for multiple podiums, but costly mistakes took away from great overall results. Our focus now for the entire crew is the Final Round of AUSX at Melbourne for the AUSX Open, whilst Kaleb Barham and Kayden Minear will race WSX this weekend in Perth.”
Liam Atkinson overcame last minute bike troubles and a switch in manufacturer for the weekend to come home an incredible 8th for Round 4, claiming the Top Privateer award in the process.
Jack Byrne continued to impress in the SX3 A Final. Running as high as 2nd place in the opening Final, Byrne would battle hard against the factory backed SX3 stars to finish a respectable 5th overall at Round 4.
Hayden Downie posted a consistent 2nd round in a row in SX3 after rebounding from a frustrating Redcliffe. Landing in 10th Overall at Round 4, Downie has more to show heading into the Final Round at Melbourne.
Peter Wolfe learned the importance of starts and track position in Adelaide, the junior rider unable to show his speed and potential in traffic and the chaos of the sprint format landing in 18th overall in SX3.
Lachlan Allen was also part of the chaos across the Supercross Sprint format, where solid speed and battling up front in the B Final was contrasted with mistakes and incidents with other riders left Allen with 19th Overall.
Joel Frieberg bounced back from a troublesome Round at Wollongong, narrowly missing out on the Top 10 and the A Final, Frieberg would battle for race wins in the B Final, finishing in 11th Overall for Round 4.
Zander Kruik again showed speed and jumping skills far exceeding his results, where 14th Overall for Round 4 sees Kruik yet to show his potential on the season so far.
The 00 Elite Rider Training Program now sets a focus on Round 5 of the AUSX Championship at Melbourne and the AUSX Open at Marvel Stadium on Saturday November 30th.
Images: ID Media Group
