Image: Foremost Media.

Double Australian SX2 champion Jackson Richardson will assess his racing future ahead of the 2023 season, his career up in the air after sitting out the final round of this year’s Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX).

The number 57 made a return to competition for this year’s AUSX series with Empire Kawasaki, having competed little in the previous three years beforehand, but quietly vacated post-Newcastle’s penultimate round.

Richardson opened the season with a P8 finish in AUSX at Marvel Stadium, before notching a heat race victory one week later at round two in Adelaide, ultimately taking the chequered flag eighth once more in the main event on that occasion.

After finishing fourth in his heat race at Newcastle, Richardson took no further part in the event and subsequently did not line up for the final round at Wagga Wagga. He will not continue with Empire Kawasaki next season – reluctant to shed any light on that apparent split – and is now carefully weighing up if he will continue in the sport altogether next year.

“I don’t know, honestly,” he told MotoOnline. “I haven’t really made a decision on yet whether I am going to race next year or not… I mean, obviously, I would still like to, but then again, I want to be competitive. Next year, I’m too sure at this point, if I’m really going to continue or not.

“I’m just weighing that up at the moment. I definitely won’t be doing motocross – 100 percent. Supercross, I’m not really sure either, it really depends, to be honest. It ain’t exactly really worth it to me at this point to continue racing at a professional level. It sucks to say that, but unfortunately, that’s just the reality of it, so I will wait and see what happens.”

Richardson also competed in the second round of the World Supercross Championship (WSX) this year in Melbourne as a late fill-in rider at MDK Motorsports, finishing the event 15th overall with a best result of 11th in final two. Considering his vast international experience and credentials within Australia, there is the possibility that he comes up on the radar of WSX teams full-time next year.

Upon confirming that Richardson’s mid-season departure was mutual from the team’s standpoint, Empire Kawasaki owner Tyson Cherry confirmed that it will focus on its KX250 program at least through Penrite ProMX, set to retain both Haruki Yokoyama and Jai Constantinou in MX2, while also recently adding Taylah McCutcheon as its MXW entry and also fielding a new MX3 signing.