HQVA press release:

Aussie motocross hero Brett Metcalfe will give the first 2016 Husqvarna FC 450 in Australia its supercross debut when this weekend’s Wayville round of the Australian Supercross championships takes place on Saturday night.

Making his sole appearance in the national championship, the South Australian will join with another hometown hero, Luke Arbon, to make up a powerful two-pronged assault for the SD3 Husqvarna team as it competes across the SX1 and SX2 classes.

At 31, Metcalfe is a decorated international competitor with a glittering career of motocross Grand Prix, AMA motocross and supercross and more recently Canadian MX National championship racing, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to race before his home crowd for the first time since 2001.

Husqvarna Australia has made sure he is well armed for the occasion, with a brand-new 2016 model Husqvarna FC 450 – the most powerful, exciting and unique incarnation ever of the famous Swedish-born brand’s top-shelf motocross weapon.

The new machine takes a big step forward over its predecessor, and beneath its groundbreaking ergonomic bodywork, the FC450 is an incredible 5.2 kg lighter, boasts significant horsepower gains across the rev range, as well as advanced frame and electronics technology.

In Australia, Metcalfe will ride with the backing of the successful SD3 team which supports SX2 ace Luke Arbon, who will be out to repeat the podium finish he achieved at the opening round of the championship at Bathurst.

Arbon currently sits fourth in the rankings of the SX2 championship, and can think of nothing better than leveraging an exciting hometown performance to improve his position in the championship chase.

Stephen McKinnon – Team Owner, SD3 Husqvarna – “We’re thrilled. Myself and the family can’t wait to get down there and get amongst it. I think it’s fantastic to have riders in both classes, and I’m over the moon with the support from Jon (Hafey) and Jeff (Leisk) from Husky as well. We’re ready to go into battle I think, Brett had a great day yesterday; he’s feeling fast, loves the bike, and is ready to hold it on this Saturday night. The fact that both the lads are Adelaide born and bred it’s win-win. It’s going to be great for them to be centre stage on Saturday night in front of their home crowd. I think it’s fantastic, and great for the sport to have Brett back in the country as well.”

Brett Metcalfe – FC 450: “This is my hometown race and I’ve never gotten to really compete. So once I heard it was coming back to Wayville, I began negotiating to come back down to this event. The relationship with Husqvarna in the US was starting to grow a little, and Steve from SD3 stepped in and we kind of put an arrangement together just to do this one race.
I put five days on a 2016 model in the US and got a little setup over there, and then rode it here today. This is the only 16 in Oz right now so I’ve got to treat it nicely! From what I understand it’s a big change from the 2015 model and so far I love this thing. This bike got an awesome feel, the front and traction is an excellent, which is obviously good for not just Supercross but anybody. The engine is phenomenal. The bike I’m racing will run the complete stock engine, it’ll have a set of suspension and triple clamps and a pipe and muffler – it’s nothing special but I’m really stoked.

I took a big break after the Canadian championship got done, so I haven’t been on the bike for long, but I feel good. Whenever I’m on the track you race to win, so we’ll see how we go, the preparation is good, it hasn’t been great, but I feel good and the team around me is really good so we will just go in with a positive attitude. Luke is riding well too so I think we’ve got a good little team with SD3, rolling in for our home town event.”

Luke Arbon – FC 250: “The season has been decent for me, the first round was good and I felt good and landed on the podium. Second round I think I just expected little bit too much of myself and just tightened up about halfway through the main which made it really difficult to push on that sort of track.
I’ve never been happy with not winning but I have to make it fun and enjoy it, because when I go out and have fun and just ride like I know I can, I know I will be at the front.
It’s awesome to be racing back in Adelaide, I think the last time was about 2007 or 2008. I was still a junior and had a big crash at Wayville. It’s definitely cool to have it back here again and I can’t wait to get back out there in front of everyone.”

For more information on Husqvarna motorcycles visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com