Image: Foremost Media.

Serco Yamaha’s Jacob Hayes has declared the tighter confines of Qudos Bank Arena serve as his ‘style of racing’ on the eve of the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Sydney, marking the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship this weekend.

Hayes, the 2018 AMA Arenacross champion, will draw upon his years of experience in the fierce and aggressive discipline in hopes of earning his maiden main event victory on Saturday night, and ultimately the SX2 crown.

A dark horse in the title race, the American sits 13 points shy of current leader Jay Wilson (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and is tied with teammate Wilson Todd for third.

“I’m tied with Wilson for third, and I’m 13 points out of the lead,” Hayes explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “It’s just riding dirt bikes, and anything can happen. My goal is to go out there and win a main event – I haven’t won an overall. My goal is to win all three if I can and go out with a bang. It’s my style of racing – it’s tight and I’m excited to do battle.

“I’ve watched this race for many years and dreamt about racing it, so to be here and bang bars is going to be fun. It’s tight racing and I’ve done it for many years now – I’m no stranger to it. I feel like I’ve enjoyed the Triple Crown, but this weekend they’re doing it a little different where they’re back-to-back – we don’t have the 450s in between – so that’ll cut our rest time.”

Hayes admits he’s struggled to come to terms with the hard-packed soil in the opening rounds here in Australia, particularly with his start-gate preparation. Although with the the AUS-X Open set to boast a metal starting grate in tomorrow’s three-race encounter, he’s confident it will only play into his favour.

“I’m pumped we’re using a grate this weekend behind the start line – the dirt has caught me off-guard over here. The first couple of rounds I was caught way off-guard – I remember telling my mechanic that I didn’t how to pack my gate because the dirt is so hard here. I think that’ll play into my favour – I’m familiar with doing starts like that.”

The initial practice and qualifying sessions are set to take place this afternoon at the Sydney Olympic Park venue before racing kicks off tomorrow.