Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

American import Justin Brayton’s first step of defending the Australian SX1 Supercross Championship was a dominant one at Jimboomba X Stadium, Queensland, to open the 2017 season tonight.

Early in the night, former multiple-time champion Dan Reardon (MEGA Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki) made a strong return to the KX450F by leading SX1 heat one from start to finish.

He was trailed by Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) directly over the finish line at the end of eight laps, while in a lonely third came Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), followed by rookie Nathan Crawford (MEGA Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Joel Wightman (Penrite CRF Honda Racing).

Penrite Honda Racing’s current SX1 champion Brayton rode away to a seven-second advantage in heat two, going directly into the main event after topping standout newcomer Luke Clout (Crankt Protein Honda Racing). He was straight ahead of Dylan Long (CDR Yamaha), while another import in KSF Racing Suzuki-mounted Daniel Herrlein led Jesse Dobson (Penrite Honda Racing) to complete the top five.

It was a non-event of sorts for outdoor champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha), going down in the first turn and then riding to seventh out of the eight riders on track.

As he did one year ago, Brayton proved the class of the field once the gates dropped on the SX1 main event and essentially led from start to finish across the 20-lap duration.

The popular American guest ultimately won ahead of MX Nationals champion Ferris by 5.360s, as Reardon crossed the line third to mirror the opening round podium of last season. Ferris made his way by former teammate Reardon in the mid-stages and the pair ended up crossing the line just a second apart after an entertaining battle.

Top rookie was a charging Clout in P4, moving past teammate Waters for position, as Crawford also put in a positive 450 supercross debut in sixth. The top 10 was filled by a mixture of talent, led by Long after he led half the opening lap and crashed, a returning Cheyne Boyd (Park4MX Yamaha), a fast-starting Wightman and Mosig, who had to recover after a mishap on the opening lap.

The 2017 Australian Supercross Championship will continue with round two at Bacchus Marsh in Victoria on Saturday, 14 October.