Follow the 2023 Fox Australian Supercross Championship with direct SX1 and SX2 updates from the first round of the season at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre through Racefeed.

Image: Foremost Media.

SX2 practice:
Defending champion Max Anstie topped the SX2 practice sessions, with the Honda Racing rider clocking a 22.331s lap-time – more than 0.4s clear of second-fastest rider Robbie Wageman (WBR Yamaha). Serco Yamaha’s Rhys Budd was the fastest of the Australian racers, and last of the riders to drop beneath the 23-second mark. Honda Racing’s Wilson Todd was fourth, followed by Nathan Crawford (KTM Racing Team). Jayce Cosford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing), Ryder Kingsford (WBR Yamaha), Reid Taylor (Husqvarna) and Cole Thompson (Serco Yamaha) completed the 10 fastest times

SX1 practice:
Honda Racing duo Dean Wilson and Justin Brayton finished at the top of the SX1 practice leaderboards, with Wilson (22.201s) edging the defending champion Brayton by just 0.2s. CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Josh Hill made sure it was an international lock-out of the top three positions, ahead of his team-mate, Luke Clout, and Empire Kawasaki’s Matt Moss. Kyle Webster (Honda Racing), Aaron Tanti (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy), Joel Wightman (Yamaha), Jackson Richardson (Kawasaki) and Bailey Malkiewicz (WBR Yamaha) filled the remaining top 10 positions.

SX2 qualifying:
Serco Yamaha’s Rhys Budd put down a scorcher of a lap in the SX2 qualifying session to claim pole position ahead of the night show. Budd beat defending champion Max Anstie by the barest of margins around the tight circuit, with his 22.013 lap-time edging the Englishman by just 0.06s. Another 0.67s adrift was KTM Racing Team’s Nathan Crawford, as Honda Racing’s Wilson Todd finished the session fourth-fastest after a last-lap effort, and Reid Taylor filled the top five. Jayce Cosford, American Robbie Wageman, Canadian Cole Thompson, Ryder Kingsford and rookie Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) completed the top 10 positions.

SX1 qualifying:
Honda Racing’s Dean Wilson made a late charge to the top of the SX1 qualifying charts, and established himself as the man to beat come the night show at Adelaide. Wilson beat his team-mate and five-time Australian Supercross Champion Justin Brayton to pole, with his 21.498s lap-time being 0.2s faster than Brayton’s. Matt Moss stole the third-quickest spot from Josh Hill, while Kyle Webster ensured all three Honda Racing riders finished inside the top five. Team-mates Aaron Tanti and Luke Clout finished sixth and seventh-fastest respectively, ahead of Bailey Malkiewicz  and privateers Jackson Richardson and Joel Wightman.

SX2 heat one:
Ryder Kingsford won the first heat, after leading from the gate-drop. Cosford finished a close second, ahead of Nathan Crawford. Noah Ferguson and Mitchell Norris (GasGas) head to the LCQ while Blake Fox (Raceline Husqvarna Berry Sweet Racing), Brock Flynn (GasGas) and Zane Mackintosh (Kawasaki) didn’t qualify.

SX2 heat two:
Max Anstie took the heat win with another wire-to-wire victory, with Cole Thompson and Liam Atkinston (KTM). Reid Taylor and Haruki Yokoyama finished in the top five, while Kobi Wolff (Husqvarna), Thynan Kean (Honda) and Caleb Goulet (GasGas) failed to qualify for the LCQ.

SX2 heat three:
Todd claimed both the holeshot and the win, with Wageman and Budd finishing a close second and third. Kaleb Barham (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and Mackenzie O’Bree (GasGas) finished in the top five, while Ryan Kohlenberg (Yamaha), Luke Tisdale (Husqvarna) and Connor Rossandich (KTM) saw their nights come to an early end.

SX1 heat one:
Aaron Tanti took the win after a mistake by Moss in the final laps saw him finish fourth. Richardson finished second, with Luke Zielinski (Yamaha) third. Moss took the holeshot but the mistake saw him give the win away and headed to the LCQ. Blake Cobbin finished fifth, while Cory Watts (Honda), Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) and and Jake Bennett filled the lower positions.

SX1 heat two:
A clinical Brayton hooked a great start and led team-mate Kyle Webster to the finishline. Malkiewicz rode well to finish third ahead of Liam Jackson (KTM) and Dylan Wood (Honda). Elijah Wiese (Yamaha), Joel Cigliano (Kawasaki) and Bryson Cherrett (KTM) failed to qualify.

SX1 heat three:
Wilson claimed the holeshot and stormed to a convincing win over Hill, who survived a stiff challenge from Clout before Clout washed his front wheel and went down. Joel Wightman (Yamaha), Clout and Robbie Marshall (Husqvarna) found themselves heading to the LCQ, while Navrin Grothues (Yamaha), Ricky Latimer (Yamaha) and Jesse Bishop (KTM) had an early finish to their night.

SX2 last-chance qualifier:
Crawford scored the LCQ holeshot and led Taylor for the whole race. Ferguson edged his way to third, while a last-gasp pass by Liam Atkinson saw him beat fastest qualifier Budd to the finish-line, meaning the Serco Yamaha rider missed the final. Yokoyama, Barham, O’Bree, Fox and Norris filled the remaining top 10 positions.

SX1 last-chance qualifier:
Moss took a convincing holeshot and race win to guarantee his spot in the main event, followed by Clout and Zileinski, with Malkiewicz also squeaking into the big show. Wood, Wiese, Jackson, Marshall, Cobbin and Wightman didn’t qualify.

SX2 final:
A relentless performance from Max Anstie saw the defending SX2 champion take the first win of the year. Anstie scored a good holeshot and never looked back as he charged around the tight Adelaide circuit to finish 5.37s ahead of Robbie Wageman. Wageman stayed within touch of Anstie for the first half of the race before he was dropped. Todd put in a consistent race to finish on the final spot of the podium, while Cole Thompson and Jayce Cosford finished fourth and fifth respectively. Liam Atkinson, Ryder Kingsford and Noah Ferguson finished sixth through eighth, ahead of Nathan Crawford, who crashed early on. Reid Taylor DNFed after also crashed midway through the race.

SX1 final:
Dean Wilson made it a perfect night for the Honda Racing camp with a convincing win in the SX1 final. It was Moss who surged to one of the best starts of the night to take the holeshot, but after leading the opening laps the Scottish-born Honda rider worked his way into the lead and never looked back. Moss held onto second for most of the race, but a late mistake allowed Brayton by for P2. Fourth, fifth and sixth went to CDR Yamaha Monster Energy team-mates Hill, Clout and Tanti, the latter of whom had to overcome a slow start. Similarly, Webster crashed on the opening lap and worked hard to finish seventh, ahead of Zielinski, Richardson and Malkiewicz, who crashed hard on the sixth lap.