Source: Supplied.

Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing has enlisted youthful American talent Jace Owen to contest this year’s Australian Supercross Championship in the premier class alongside team regular and SX2 contender Aaron Tanti.

The 23-year-old finished second in last year’s Arenacross championship in the US with a season-best 17 main event wins to his credit, however a knee injury at the beginning of this year ended his 2018 campaign before it effectively began.

Now, back to 100 percent health, Owen will be striving for a strong season with the primary Kawasaki Motors Australia-supported team.

“I’m super-excited to be here in Australia with Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing,” commented Owen, who’ll pilot the all-new 2019 KX450. “I’ve been here for just over a week now, getting comfortable with the 2019 KX450 and have been getting some good seat time. The bike is awesome, it’s so agile, has a ton of usable power and I’ve really been liking the hydraulic clutch.

“The plan is to build as the season goes. I definitely want to be up the front, but am coming off of a knee injury, so I’d say a top five at the first round would be pretty good in terms of expectations. By the time the season’s over, I want to be up on the podium and in the mix, that’s for sure.”

Former team member and New Zealand ace Rhys Carter was signed to a motocross-only contract, ultimately opening up the position for Owen to join the outfit in supercross.

New South Welshman Tanti is hopeful of maintaining his winning form into the series after a highly-successful Pirelli MX Nationals campaign, where he’ll attempt to claim a maiden title in the division.

“I’ve been feeling good on the bike and the Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing team has been working really well together,” Tanti explained. “I’ve just been putting in a lot of laps, getting comfortable with the KX250F in supercross and it’s been positive so far.

“I really expect to be up there at the front, have been able to put in a lot more work than in recent years now that I am racing full-time. My results in motocross have given me a lot of confidence, so I am really excited to head to round one next weekend.”

The opening stop of the Australian Supercross Championship is scheduled for 15 September at Jimboomba in Queensland, and will span over five rounds on the east coast of the country.