The opening three rounds of the 2024 Fox Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) have delivered captivating storylines that are currently unfolding, with each category featuring its own share of the action. As the series heads towards this weekend’s penultimate round at the Adelaide 500, MotoOnline takes a closer look at the Top 10 topics to follow.

Image: Foremost Media.

1. Wilson vs Savatgy for SX1 honours:
They might be Honda Racing teammates, but there are no team orders as the defending champion Dean Wilson and American Joey Savagty slowly begin to distance themselves from the rest of the SX1 field. After three rounds at Redcliffe and Wollongong, just five points separate the two internationals, with Empire Kawasaki’s Luke Clout in third, a further five points back. Wilson set the early standard when he comfortably won both main events at the opening round at Redcliffe 1, but Savatgy has responded well. He took the overall at Redcliffe 2 after some spirited battles with Wilson and Clout, then won the Wollongong Triple Crown, as his 5-1-1 scores bettered Wilson’s 2-2-2 on countback. The stage is set for this rivalry to go down to the wire.

2. Can Clout snatch a round win?
Many expected Luke Clout to be one of the main contenders this year, but he’s already exceeding those expectations and is the best-placed Australian heading into Adelaide this weekend. Clout has featured on the podium at all three rounds so far, with two thirds and a runner-up. However, his best performance came in the first SX1 final at Redcliffe 2, where he held off a series of aggressive attacks from Wilson and Savatgy to take a narrow victory, and then won another one at Wollongong. While he’s been the only racer to take a race win from the Honda Racing duo, Clout has his sights on at least one round victory this year. He’s only got two more chances to make that happen in this short championship, but all the ingredients are there since he’s been consistently quick off the gates, looks extremely comfortable on his KX450 and has proven he can match the pace of the internationals.

3. McElrath in the SX2 box seat:
After a quiet start to his first-ever Australian SX2 campaign at Redcliffe, Polyflor Honda Racing’s Shane McElrath has bounced back remarkably to take control of the series, and was the standout performer at Redcliffe on Sunday and once again in Wollongong. The American entered the series as one of the heavy favourites, but season got off to a choppy start when he had to work his way up to third from a bad start in the opening race, then was taken down in the much-dissected tangle that also saw his teammates Cole Thompson and Brodie Connolly crash out of contention. McElrath left Redcliffe 1 down in eighth overall, but the following night he dominated both finals, then won all three SX2 races at last weekend’s third round. He currently leads a Honda podium red-wash, with Thompson and Connolly tied and trailing him by seven points.

Image: Foremost Media.

4. The AUSX Open factor:
This year’s SX1 title chase is almost certainly going to complicated by one of the most anticipated races in years, the AUSX Open at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. The inclusion of Australian superstars Hunter and Jett Lawrence and two-time Monster Energy Supercross champion Cooper Webb means maximum points are going to be much harder for the regular championship contenders to earn. Combined with a typically hard-pack circuit, less available positions on the starting gate and every point being valuable, Melbourne could potentially be a make-or-break round for a number of the series front-runners.

5. SX2 tensions in the Honda camp:
Boasting the largest team in the pits, the Honda Racing camp is throwing everything at this year’s AUSX championship, with the underlying goal of sweeping the podium in both classes. The problem is, when there are so many potential champions under the same awning, it doesn’t take much for tensions to flare and personalities to clash. After Thompson took down Connolly and McElrath at Redcliffe, there were some heated discussions back in the pits, and while a state of calm hung in the air at Wollongong, Connolly and Thompson now enter Adelaide tied on points and with the SX2 title still in play. With everything to fight for, it certainly won’t take much for the tensions to again rise to the surface.

6. Moss seeking redemption:
The much-anticipated return of multi-time Australian champion Matt Moss to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy team has been a disappointing one over the first three rounds. Crashes and bad second motos at both the Redcliffe rounds saw him leave the opening weekend with 11th and eighth overall, as he struggled to put together two solid races in the finals. Things went from bad to worse at his home race in Wollongong, when he crashed early in his heat and wasn’t able to start the three SX1 finals. With two rounds left Moss is languishing in an uncharacteristic 14th position in the title hunt, which is well below the expectations he and the CDR team had set for the season. Moss will be desperate to finish the season strongly and find some redemption at both Adelaide and Melbourne.

7. Smooth and steady for Beaton:
Heading into the AUSX championship, there was a question-mark as to how CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Jed Beaton would perform in the indoor settings. The longtime MXGP regular hadn’t raced supercross in almost 10 years, but that doesn’t seem to have affected him at all. Beaton’s consistency in the short, sharp and frantic race formats has been impressive, and he currently sits P4 in the SX1 standings. It got off to a slightly shaky start on the opening night when he crashed in the first final on his way to seventh overall, but since then he’s been a steady force to be reckoned with. A 5-4 result at Redcliffe 2 saw him take fourth overall, before he logged a super-consistent 4-4-4 result at Wollongong. With two rounds remaining, Beaton is two points ahead of Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Aaron Tanti, but 12 points outside of Clout.

Image: Foremost Media.

8. The battle for the SX2 top five:
One of the main sub-plots to keep an eye on is the three-way battle for P4 and P5 in the SX2 championship chase. Just five markers separate Empire Kawasaki’s Reid Taylor (49 points), Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Jayce Cosford (47) – injured ahead of Adelaide – and KTM Racing Team’s Kayden Minear (44). Taylor started the championship strongly with a 4-2 result for fourth at Redcliffe 1, but a disappointing second night, where he finished 12th overall has kept Cosford and Minear within striking distance. Cosford has shown some flashes of great speed – namely a P2 in the second final at Wollongong – while Minear has been relatively consistent, with most of his results being in the 5-8 range. This weekend’s quick-fire sprint finals, where starts will be even more important than usual, could have a significant bearing on how this fight plays out.

9. Metcalfe’s final home race:
This weekend’s Adelaide AUSX round will see South Australian legend Brett Metcalfe line up for his last home race. The Penrite GO24 Racing veteran has been part of the state’s racing landscape for decades, and after an illustrious national and international career, Metcalfe is hanging up his boots at the end of this season. His 2024 AUSX campaign began well with a P6 and P8 at the two Redcliffe rounds, but strain to the top of his calf muscle saw him opt to sit out Wollongong in order to stay fit enough for the last two rounds. As a result, he’s currently sitting P11 in the SX1 standings, but you can guarantee he’ll hold nothing back for his home crowd this weekend.

10. SX3 points tighten up:
After convincingly winning the opening two rounds of the SX3 championship at Redcliffe, the early indications were that WBR Bulk Nutrients Yamaha’s Seth Burchell would potentially runaway with to this year’s title. However, things didn’t go according to Burchell’s script at Wollongong when he found himself mid-pack off the start and couldn’t make any further advances after getting himself into P5 early, while GasGas Racing Team-backed rider Ky Woods enjoyed a wire-to-wire win. Round three’s results meant Woods close Burchell’s series lead to just five points, setting the tone for what could be a compelling end to the season.