Dan Reardon believes a strong sign off at the weekend’s Monster Energy AUS-X Open Sydney, the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship, will play an important role in cementing his future plans as a supercross-only rider.

The popular Gold Coast athlete has raced supercross internationally throughout the Australian off-season for the past two years, a unique campaign in which he’s endeavouring to do once again in the early months of 2019.

Reardon, running a self-managed operation with help of Yamaha this year, put on a stellar display at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday night, becoming the highest-placed Australian at the AUS-X Open to claim third, promoting himself to third in the domestic SX1 series rankings.

“If you talk about future plans, it’s always important to sign off in a good way,” Reardon explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “Unfortunately our industry is a really funny one in the world of sports – you get this ‘you’re only as good as your last ride’ sort of thing, but I disagree with it.

“We put a lot of work into our season, and sometimes things just don’t go right – this year I had two minor mechanicals from racing incidents – it hurts the points and people think that maybe ‘he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do or he’s not as fast as he was’.

“It is important still, especially the last round because I’m in the middle of my season – I don’t really run into an off-season now because I’ll race January through to March, depending on where I go, whether that’s the UK, Europe or America.”

The number 122 has a number of supercross options to pursue next year, although he insisted his strongest talks have been with teams in the Arenacross UK championship – the same series he contested at the beginning of the year.

“Both options are on the table, but I’m probably more in more in-depth conversations with the guys in the UK and even some one-off European races,” he continued. “The one-off supercross events they have in Europe are awesome and they’re quite easy to travel to from the UK. The plan is to definitely be racing, it’s just trying to figure out what will work out best.”

Reardon wound up with 90 points in the 2018 Australian Supercross Championship, earning two podiums finishes in the process.

Motorcycling Australia (MA) has confirmed the introduction of the Australian Junior Road Racing Championship (AJRRC) that will run in conjunction with the MotoStars series in 2019, along with a new-look Australian Supermoto Championship (ASMC).

All six rounds will host the junior championship, while three rounds will feature the Supermoto category. Round one will kick off at Greer Park Raceway in Queensland on 2-3 March, with AJRRC, ASMC and MotoStars coming together to commence the series.

MotoStars will travel to Broadford State Motorcycle Complex in Victoria for round two on 6-7 April, which will also boast the highly anticipated bLU cRU Oceania Rookies Cup.

Heading down south, competitors will arrive at The Bend Motorsport Park, South Australia for round three on 26-27 April, with the AJRRC and ASMC running in conjunction with the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) and the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC). This one-off special event will run under lights on Friday and Saturday night.

Round four will be held in Australia’s capital at the Circuit Mark Webber in Canberra on 25-26 May. Newcastle’s round in New South Wales last year was MotoStars’ biggest, and it will make a welcome return to the series as round five, including AJRRC on 14-15 September.

To close off the 2019 season, the MotoStars series will finish in its backyard home of Port Macquarie, New South Wales on 19-20 October. Round six will be the final round of the AJRRC and MotoStars series, plus the third and final round of the ASMC.

2019 MotoStars calendar:
Rd1 – 2-3 March – Toowoomba, QLD (AJRRC, ASMC, MotoStars)
Rd2 – 6-7 April – Broadford, VIC (AJRRC, Oceania Rookies Cup, MotoStars)
Rd3 – 26-27 April – Tailem Bend, SA (AJRRC, ASMC, MotoStars)
Rd4 – 25-26 May – Canberra, ACT (AJRRC, MotoStars)
Rd5 – 14-15 September – Newcastle, NSW (AJRRC, MotoStars)
Rd6 – 19-20 October – Port Macquarie, NSW (AJRRC, ASMC, MotoStars)

GRT Yamaha will step up to the premier category in the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), fielding Superbike regular Marco Melandri and 2018 WorldSSP champion Sandro Cortese.

The team will utilise factory-supported Yamaha YZF-R1 machines as both riders bring a wealth of experience to the outfit, which will prove to be beneficial in its maiden Superbike campaign.

28-year-old Cortese took five race wins and 10 podium finishes on his way to being crowned as the first ever Moto3 world champion in 2012, while he secured the 2018 WorldSSP title in his debut season aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6 with a podium finish in the final round in Qatar.

“To win the WorldSSP championship and then step up to WorldSBK with the GRT Yamaha Team is like a dream come true for me,” said Cortese. “I’m super happy to be a part of this new project and, although it’s a big step, I am really looking forward to the challenge. I can’t wait to jump on the Yamaha YZF-R1 for the first time in Jerez later this month to start the familiarisation process.

“It will be like christmas for me – I’ve never ridden such a big bike before and I am like a small kid who can’t wait to get his present! The bike will be more physically demanding to ride than the Yamaha YZF-R6 and, with three races every weekend instead of just one next year, I will definitely need to work on my fitness over the winter to ensure I’m ready.”

GRT Yamaha team manager Filippo Conti commented: “I am really delighted to be stepping up to the WorldSBK championship with Yamaha, it’s like a dream come true. We started this project in WorldSSP and now we are moving up to WorldSBK, which is very important for the team but also for Yamaha’s production racing program. It’s a big step for us and we know we will be facing a steep learning curve in our debut season, but our two riders bring with them a wealth of experience.

“Riders don’t come more experienced than Marco, who has been a frontrunner in WorldSBK since he came to the championship in 2011. And while 2019 will be Sandro’s first season on a WorldSBK machine, he’s the reigning WorldSSP champion and a former Moto3 World Champion, so I expect him to adapt quickly to our Yamaha YZF-R1.

“We need to learn a lot in this new category, but our target is clear; we want to be as competitive in WorldSBK as we have been in WorldSSP. Maybe this isn’t possible in our debut season, but that’s the goal for the future.”

Melandri and Cortese will get their first opportunity to test the Yamaha YZF-R1 they’ll campaign in GRT Yamaha colours in 2019 during a two-day test at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, which gets underway on 26 November.

American champion unbeaten in inaugural Triple Crown showdown.

Source: MotoOnline.com.au

Quarter-litre title goes down to the wire in Triple Crown thriller.

Source: MotoOnline.com.au

News 9 Nov 2018

Brayton on provisional pole at AUS-X Open Sydney

Current Australian Supercross Championship SX1 points leader Justin Brayton (Penrite Honda Racing) has landed on provisional pole in Friday’s qualifying at the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Sydney.

The number one plated American lodged a stellar 32.005s time to position himself atop the timesheets, as Yamaha-mounted Dan Reardon sliced his way to the second fastest time of 32.650s, just ahead of international star Dean Wilson (DPH Motorsport Husqvarna) in third.

Reigning Monster Energy AMA Supercross champion Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) was fourth fastest, followed by fifth’s Lawson Bopping in his return to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team.

KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Luke Clout finished sixth on the timesheets ahead of Australian supercross legend Chad Reed (Autotrader Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing), while the top 10 was rounded out by Jace Owen (Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing), Brett Metcalfe (Penrite Honda Racing) and Dylan Long (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team).

American guest Jacob Hayes (Serco Yamaha) topped the SX2 times with a blistering 33.090s, comfortably edging out Jy Roberts’ (Husqvarna) time of 33.896s. Serco Yamaha’s Wilson Todd pushed through for the quickest time, as the top five was rounded out by championship leader Jay Wilson (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and Kyle Webster (Penrite CRF Honda Racing).

Positions six through to 10 were completed by Aaron Tanti (Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing), Hayden Mellross (DPH Motorsport Husqvarna), Jackson Richardson (Penrite CRF Honda Racing), Dylan Wills (DPH Motorsport Husqvarna) and Josh Osby (Raceline Pirelli KTM).

Mason Rowe (KTM) captured victory in the SX2 qualification race, which saw the top four riders granted an opportunity to contest tomorrow night’s show. He was joined by Cooper Pozniak (Yamaha), Blake Cobbin (KTM) and Josh Brewster (KTM) in the first four.

Former champion Ryan Marmont (KTM) dominated both heats of the 2-Stroke Cup, defeating Justin Carafa (Yamaha) and Taylor Potter (Honda) in the opening outing, while the second time out he beat home Danny Ham (Yamaha) and Carafa.

A third in the Junior Lites class was enough for Yamaha’s Jake Cuka to clinch the title, while Brandon Steel (KTM) broke through for the overall win in Sydney ahead of Steel and Jai Walker (Husqvarna).

The Junior 85cc championship was wrapped by Brad West (Kawasaki) following a thrilling finale, as the night was taken out by Cambell Williams (KTM), Jack Mather (KTM) and Ryder Kingsford (Yamaha).

Qualifying and racing resumes tomorrow night along with an extensive schedule of entertainment at Qudos Bank Arena for the main show of the AUS-X Open, which will mark the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship.

Detailed results