Of all the riders who put in stellar performances in the opening two rounds of the 2024 Fox Australian Supercross Championship at Redcliffe, emerging Yamaha talent Seth Burchell was a standout with a double victory in SX3. The teenager features in our latest Profiled interview.

The WBR Bulk Nutrients Yamaha rider was a revelation in the development class, winning both heat races and the two main events to put himself in the box seat to challenge for his first-ever national title. It’s been a big step up in form, but the 18-year-old has loads of motivation with his future currently up in the air.

Burchell began racing at the age of seven and regularly competed at the Australian Junior Motocross Championship. However, while there were plenty of podium performances over the years, he never secured himself a title.

“It was fun, but I was forever chasing firsts and always falling just short,” the teenager explains. “There were a lot of seconds and thirds over the years, but Kayden Minear always beat me.”

Burchell first dabbled in the MX3 class in the pandemic-shortened 2021 Australian ProMX Championship, then scored points at five rounds in 2022 on his way to 16th overall. Last year saw the then GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing rider find his footing in the class as he raced the full season and finished sixth overall, finishing on a high note with a podium at the final round at Coolum.

Off the back of that strong result, Burchell felt confident heading into the 2023 AUSX series, but a practice crash saw him hurt his back and sit out the opening round: “That was pretty frustrating, as the preparation was going well. It was good to bounce back with a fifth at Newcastle, then finish P2 at Melbourne after leading most of the race.”

The Penrith-based rider works as an apprentice dogman (crane spotter), directing crane operators during lifts to help them accurately shift loads when they’re out of the operator’s view. With a contract to ride for the WBR team secured for 2024, he pulled back from working five days a week to three days, to give himself some extra time to train with Craig Anderson.

A positive pre-season was again marred by injury when Burchell broke his wrist in a practice crash just two weeks before the 2024 ProMX season opener at Wonthaggi. Eager to get back into the action and minimise the points bleeding, he plated up his wrist and hit the track at Horsham for the second round.

“I strapped it up with a wrist brace and it actually wasn’t too bad out there, especially as Horsham’s a rough track,” he recalls. “I didn’t need any medication to block out the pain – the adrenaline kinda took over and helped a lot.”

He finished the round in P7 and continued improving, landing on the podium at both Maitland and Toowoomba this year. Burchell wrapped up the outdoor season seventh overall, despite missing Wonthaggi and enduring a double DNF in the final round at QMP.

The eight-week gap between ProMX and AUSX was a much-needed break, and having ridden regularly with multi-time Australian champion Matt Moss and training partner Ben Novak, Burchell entered Redcliffe invigorated and ready to prove his worth.

After logging a sixth-fastest qualifying time, he put all his start practice to good use by hole-shotting and winning his heat, then repeated that performance for the final.

“I had some nerves and I wasn’t that happy with my riding – I made a lot of mistakes out there,” he admits. “Still, it was good to get the holeshot, ride my laps and not worry about what was going on behind me.”

Burchell again shone on Sunday’s second round, when a P4 qualifying time was followed by another wire-to-wire heat race win, then another victory in the final – holding his finger toward his lips as he lit the finish-line candles.

“My aim all weekend was to just nail my starts and focus on myself,” added Burchell. “The SX3 final is only six laps, so it’s all about getting a good jump off the gate. That win felt really good. I came into the series underrated and I wanted to prove everyone wrong… Winning both nights sent a pretty clear message that it wasn’t a fluke.”

While there’s still a lot of racing left in the series and winning his first national title is something he’s gunning for, Burchell has even more motivation to shine – he ages out of the development class after this year’s AUSX and he doesn’t have a ride locked in for 2025.

“I want to show that I deserve a MX2 ride next year,” he says. “That’s what I’m racing for at this stage, to get something locked in for 2024. I don’t come from a wealthy family, we don’t have land and a track that I can ride whenever I want. We’ve done it tough, and if I don’t secure a ride for 2025, I won’t be racing next year. I might do the odd local round, but there’s no way I can afford to race the whole championship on an apprentice’s wage.”

With a 12-point championship lead and a home round at Wollongong next weekend, things are heading in the right direction for Burchell, but he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself: “I’m pretty pumped for Wollongong as I’ll have a lot of family and friends coming to support me, and I want to keep this momentum going.

“The championship is definitely the main aim and it’s always on my mind, but I want to focus on staying consistent, keep improving and tick off each round as it goes. If I can do that, things should hopefully work out sweet.”