Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Penrite Honda Racing has revealed American Chris Blose will replace Gavin Faith for the remaining rounds of the Australian Supercross Championship.

Faith exited the series with a wrist injury despite leading the SX2 category, forcing the Victorian-based outfit to search internationally for a rider that could continue to place the Honda CRF250R on the podium.

Blose, an AMA Arenacross regular who’s rivalled Faith in the series over past seasons, says he was excited to receive the call up, stating it’s a great opportunity for himself.

“I was excited when I got the call,” said Blose. “I know how professional and competitive the Honda program is. I have watched the AUS-X Open and the track is similar to what I have been racing on these past two seasons. This is a great opportunity for me.”

Team owner Yarrive Konsky has received backlash since MotoOnline.com.au broke the news that the outfit would source an overseas rider, although he’s reinforced the reasoning behind his decision.

“To find a competitive rider during a championship is really difficult,” Konsky commented. “Most of the riders placing inside the top 10 are either already signed with teams and/or have personal sponsors that would conflict with ours. We want to continue to prove that we have a race-winning program and we need to provide our sponsors and fans the best results we can, that is why we chose Chris.”

Blose will make his debut this weekend at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open, which will mark rounds four and five of the series.