The 2024 Fox Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) wrapped up on Saturday night at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, with the prestigious AUSX Open drawing close to one of the most exciting supercross seasons in recent years. Honda Racing Australia’s Joey Savatgy and Shane McElrath claimed victory in the SX1 and SX2 title battles, while Hunter Lawrence marked his high-profile homecoming with a popular win. We caught up with the three following the main events for Debrief.

SX1 champion

Image: Foremost Media.

2024 SX1 Supercross Champion, Joey, you made that very interesting, to say the least. Just take us through the whole day.

Yeah, I’ll be honest. It was definitely more interesting than I wanted it to be. I put myself in a good position in the last one to win the whole thing, and it looked promising for sure, but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be. We came here with a big picture and that was to win the title and an added bonus would’ve been to win the overall tonight. It looked like we were going to do both, but yeah, it wasn’t meant to be. We’ll come back next year and then try to defend.

That final race there tonight, there was a sense of urgency when you got that flat tyre. You didn’t know what was sort of happening. How’d you stay calm? Were you trying to work that out?

No. I mean, to be honest, I had no idea. There’s nothing I could have done. I didn’t want to go too fast because I didn’t want the tyre to come off the bead and the tyre actually get sucked up in the wheel and then I couldn’t finish. It was just one of those things where I was kind of stuck. I couldn’t do anything. Couldn’t come in and change tyre because I just felt like we would’ve lost too much time. Yeah, I don’t know. There’s so many what-ifs. Maybe in hindsight I should have came in first lap and changed it, but thankfully we had a points lead coming into it and we executed the first two times tonight. Didn’t ride the greatest, but I put myself up front and avoided the carnage. Yeah, like I said, it was more eventful than I wanted it to be, but we made it work.

That track tonight as well, it broke down really quickly. It got slick, it got hard to ride. What was that like?

Yeah, to be honest though, it was very similar to what it was two years ago here when we had WSX here. It looks so good traction wise, and then it’s one of those tracks that when you get on it and you actually go to get on the gas, the base underneath is so hard that you lose traction frequently. Yeah, honestly, it feels like this is pretty normal for here. Just it’s very deceiving. It keeps you on your toes. It really comes down to the end of the night just trying to do the basic stuff good. It’s hard to ask for too much on this track without it biting you back. I enjoy coming back here though. Obviously there’s always a little bit of a demon that I fight when I come here.

I think that demon’s gone.

It is. Like I said, it’s just one of those things that emotionally I’m just relieved that it’s come full circle for me. Coming here in 2019 and having it end the way it did and leaving on a stretcher and the doctors here telling me I’ll never ride again to coming back years later and then winning WSX here and then season finale coming here with a chance to win a championship. It just full circle. I’m just, honestly, I’m so just ready to be home and see my kids. Marvel is a place for me that is a good one now. It feels good to get that off my back and just look at this place as a positive and turn the corner, never look back.

Congratulations. What a season for you. Really good to have you part of this championship as well and it’s been something great to watch and talk about. Will you be back again next year to defend that number one?

Yeah, absolutely. I know it’s not America, but we do pretty well over here and I feel like we’re in a good place moving forward. I feel like our speeds pretty good and yeah, I’m grateful to be able to go racing. Obviously last year I barely raced at all and moving forward, I’m racing a lot. It’s something as I get a little older, I’ve learned to appreciate it, it’s awesome.

We’ll see you at Anaheim 1 in what? Four or five weeks, Joey?

Yeah, pretty much.

What off season?

There is no off season. I think after Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, I’ll take maybe a week off and then I think we have three weeks to A1 so yeah, I think it’s 41 weekends next year I’ll be racing, so it’s a full schedule.

Congratulations, mate. Enjoy the night and then we’ll see you at A1.

Yes, sir. Thank you.

SX1 winner

Image: Foremost Media.

2024 AUSX Open winner, Hunter Lawrence. That was a crazy night of racing inside Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. Take me through it.

Yeah, it was unreal mate. It was awesome. Opening ceremonies was an out of body experience I think is what I’m going to put it down to. Unreal. The three mains, there was some chaos going on out there. Safe to say that. This triple crown format, I don’t like it in the US, and yeah, I’m not sure if I like it here either. It was wild, man. It was really wild, but happy to be leaving safe. The event was just a huge success. It was unreal. Everyone that was involved, we’re super proud of them, the promoting team, AME, all the athletes that promoted it for so many months in advance. This was record attendance, so awesome.

Like you said, that opening ceremony, was that the homecoming? Wwas it louder than you expected? Was it more people than you expected or is that just what it is?

No, that was more than we expected, that’s for sure. It was way, way more than what we expected. It was unreal, so it was epic, and I think that just made the whole year worth it, so yeah. Unreal.

That final main, you and Dean Wilson, that was the loudest I’ve heard a crowd in, I even think in America, of what I’ve attended. I think it was the loudest I’ve heard it. Take me through that main, was it just trying to find a place to pass Dean? Did you know? Were you just thinking, who’s going to win this championship?

It was cool, man. I could only, couldn’t help but think if I was a kid in the stands, what I’d want to see and just keep the race interesting the whole night, the whole length of the main. It was awesome. Unreal, man. Unreal. Hopefully everyone that watched it and was there just enjoyed every bit of the night. So that’s all I have to say.

On behalf of everybody, thank you for what you and Jett have done and what you’re doing for Australia and mainly coming back as well and putting on a show like that. Thank you.

No worries. We’re back.

SX2 champion

Image: Foremost Media.

2024 SX2 Australian Supercross Champion, Shane McElrath. Congratulations, mate. What a night here in Melbourne.

Yeah, it was good. It was definitely a US scale track and honestly, the dirt was pretty deceiving. It was pretty rocky, pretty loose on top and then underneath, it was really slippery. So, pretty happy with my riding. My second main was terrible. I spun on the grate and that set me up for really coming through the pack and then I ended up with the win because the first couple guys got docked, so that was definitely a gift. But yeah, it was good to end the night on a win and just do it for this team. It’s been a great couple of weeks over here in Australia and yeah, I’ve had a blast.

Did you see the red cross flag on the finish line? You obviously seen that and you pulled up for it. Did you sort of know they jumped or not?

Well, I knew Phil [Nicoletti] jumped, but yeah, I seen it pretty clearly. I saw Phil jump, but we couldn’t see those guys that were ahead of us, so I didn’t know until after the race that they told me that I won.

Overall, for the 2024 Australian supercross season, you’ve been here now, you’ve done all the rounds. What’s your thoughts on it?

I love it. It was a blast over here. The racing was really good and really, the amount of gate drops was really good. So yeah, I had a blast and I thought it was great training for racing and you really can’t replicate that.

2025 for you now. Back to the US. What have you got planned for next year?

We’re still working on that. It’s getting pretty late. We really want to work something out with Yarrive [Konsky] and yeah, it’s still undecided yet, so we’re trying to figure that out.

So there is the potential for you to be on a Firepower Honda come Anaheim 1 in four or five weeks?

Hopefully. There’s a lot that’s still got to get sorted out. And I mean, before we commit, there’s not a lot to commit to right now and that’s the hard part is having to make a commitment right now that’s open-ended. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.

Congratulations on the championship. It’s been fantastic having you here in Australia. Good luck for 2025. We will see you at Anaheim in some type of state, Shane.

Yes, sir. Thank you.