When Yarrive Konsky made the decision to expand his factory-backed SX2 program to five riders for the 2024 Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) in a bid to maintain a three-season title streak in the category, it wasn’t supposed to end up in a bitter battle between themselves. Now, this is why the Honda Racing director has called for calm following Redcliffe.

A bold, heat-of-the-moment move from Cole Thompson in final two on Saturday night saw him take down not only Shane McElrath, but also new national MX2 champion Brodie Connolly, effectively knocking the teammates out of podium contention overall.

Image: Foremost Media.

Instead, it was Noah Ferguson who emerged with the victory – yes, another one of the team’s five official CRF250R entries – courtesy of a 1-5 scorecard, leading an all-Australian podium alongside Reid Taylor (Empire Kawasaki) and final race winner Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing).

Night two saw experienced American McElrath rebound to deliver victory as many suspected he would, considering his credentials as a two-time runner-up in the 250SX category of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, which came as recently as 2020 and just short of Chase Sexton, prior to being forced up to the premier class by virtue of the series advancement regulations. He’s also the 2022 world champion.

McElrath was this time joined on the podium by polarising Canadian Thompson and another young Australian in Alex Larwood, making for the first Honda podium sweep of the AUSX series this year. The writing is on the wall and McElrath has already taken charge of the red plates despite finishing eighth at Redcliffe 1, but you cannot discount the competition.

You see, if the red corner keeps tripping each other up – Thompson thought McElrath came at him in the first final and, come Sunday, Thompson and Connolly again clashed – there is every chance that a different colour bike steals the show, which is a typically big ask right now since Honda Racing currently holds five of the top six positions in the standings.

Image: Foremost Media.

“Look, it’s disappointing,” Konsky confessed, speaking of the three-rider incident on night one. “I mean, it’s always disappointing to see your riders down, and I think if Cole had his time again he would have done it differently, but in the heat of battle people make mistakes. They’ve got split-second decisions [to make], and when you watch back the replay you can see how close all three were.

“You’ve got three guys, six metres wide between them, trying to funnel into one line and they came together. We spoke about it, we had a debrief last night and again this morning – we’re past it now. The truth is, we’ve got five guys underneath this awning, they’re all vying for first place, they all want to do their best, and they’re all very good riders. The biggest thing we spoke about is to give each other a little bit of room… some respect.

“Cole could have taken a step back and realised how quickly he caught them both, and I think that’s why he was a little impatient. The race was getting away from him, he needed the points, and he made a mistake. Was I happy about it? No. But it happens. No one’s hurt, we’ll learn from it – if we don’t learn from it, then there’s a problem.”

Image: Foremost Media.

The tension was evident post-race, even if it later appeared to simmer by the time the team swept the podium on Sunday evening. But will it stay that way? Can Konsky contain his riders for three more rounds to remain in the hunt? Or is the inner-team rivalry only just firing up?

It might not be the only thing that Honda has to manage at this point, however. That first SX1 final at Redcliffe 2 lit the fuse between high-profile imports Dean Wilson – the defending SX1 champion with the coveted number one plate – and new red plate-holder Joey Savatgy, which could spark the ultimate storyline of all. It’s idling for now, but one more piece of contact and it’s on.