Image: Foremost Media.

Husqvarna Racing Team’s Dylan Wills has made the transition to an FC 450 ahead of the 2022 Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX), returning from injury in preparation for the upcoming season as a rookie in SX1.

Wills, 26, tore his rotator cuff while competing at the state-based King of MX event at Wagga Wagga in June, which prematurely ended his MX2 charge in the Penrite ProMX Championship, but didn’t require immediate surgery.

With Husqvarna’s premier class regular Todd Waters not contracted to ride AUSX – instead only committing to ProMX alongside an independent off-road campaign – the opportunity for Wills to step up to SX1 emerged after multiple years spent in the lightweight category.

“Obviously with the rotator cuff tear, that won’t really heal itself without surgery, so I had a few weeks off the bike there and had to let a couple of other things mend,” Wills told MotoOnline. “Right now, on the bike, it hasn’t really given me any dramas at all, so I’ve been really lucky. I’ve been making the transition to the 450 as well and everything is going really smoothly.

“I think my riding style was always going to suit the 450 a little bit more and it has. I just feel more at home on it, it’s just the way I ride and we have got a really good package to start with so it has been quite a nice transition.”

Wills will compete on the heavily-updated 2023 Husqvarna FC 450 and looks ahead to a strong AUSX season after the outcome of ProMX left him motivated to achieve more.

“Every time you go out and race you want to do good,” Wills added. “It’s obviously that sense of motocross didn’t go great with the opportunity that I have been given. I think I was just starting to find my feet there before I got hurt and that’s that age-old story of everything starting to go well and you have an injury or something, but it is, definitely important.

“At the moment I’m not really trying to think about that and doing my laps and spending a lot of time with my mechanic Declan [Adams]. I’m just trying to do the work and believe in the talent that I do have and just try and make it happen this year. There are a lot of good guys in the 450 class, so it’s definitely a tough time to step up, but with the way I ride the bike I’m confident it will turn into some good results.”

Following a multi-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Australian Supercross returns for 2022 with a four-round series that commences at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, on 21 October. It isn’t confirmed who will ride alongside Wills aboard the factory team’s SX2 bike at this point.