American Justin Brayton made it third time lucky in Tasmania to take his first Super X win. Image: Sport The Library.

American Justin Brayton has taken three rounds to rise to the top, but a thrilling Survival format at Launceston’s third round of the series in Tasmania saw the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR MX Yamaha rider take victory in his final Monster Energy Super X appearance of the season.

Brayton dominated the night with a heat race victory followed by an exceptional 1-1-4-1 result in the four-moto format, contested over seven laps each.

The final race marked a winner takes all affair, with Brayton and countryman Josh Hansen going toe-to-toe throughout, Brayton getting the win ahead of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s series leader.

“This is what I came here to do, I’m pumped to get the win, but kind of disappointed I have to go home tomorrow,” the current AMA Supercross number five said. “Super X has been great, it’s a great series with great fans.

“I am excited to go out on top, but it’s a little bittersweet because I would like to stay and race the whole series. I have had such a good time here in Australia and I really hope I can come back and compete here again next year.

“I really want to thank the team at Super X for bringing me out here and for putting on such good events as well as Craig Dack and his team for making me feel right at home.”

Hansen still leads the series by nine points over Brayton, however it’s CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha’s Jay Marmont in third – 24 points behind Hansen – who will take chase on Hansen as Brayton returns to the U.S. on Sunday.

“I’m not happy – I want to win,” Hansen said. “I really appreciate Monster putting everything together for me, Troy Carroll for helping me out and everybody else involved in this. It’s great to be here.

“I had fun racing tonight. The format was definitely different to what I am used to but I felt good racing and was happy with how I rode. I have been sick all week so I am glad I was able to pull it out of the bag and do well.”

Third place overall in Launceston was Cougar Honda Racing’s Kevin Windham, engaged in a battle with Marmont for the final podium position, but eventually claiming the spot to make it an all-American podium for the second weekend in a row.

“That was a tough race for me and I found the format really tricky,” Windham said. “I was really tired at the end and trying to catch my breath to get out there and race.

“It would have been great to get another win, but I have really enjoyed my time here in Australia. Big thanks to Cougar Honda for all the help they have given me.”

Rounding out the top five was Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Jake Moss, who was in exceptional form all night as the top Aussie, however a first turn crash and another mid-race in the final moto ended any chances of a podium for him.

Sixth was Dan Reardon, the Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing rider aggressive all night, but being pipped for the final moto transfer position by Marmont to finish his night.

The top 10 was completed by Tye Simmonds (JDR Motorex KTM), Todd Waters (Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing), Mike Alessi (JDR Motorex KTM) and Craig Anderson (Berry Sweet Strawberries Honda).

Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Lawson Bopping took his first main event victory of the season with 2-1 finishes in the Lites, bouncing back from a horror home round in Canberra last weekend.

Bopping was consistent and sealed the deal after a last-lap pass on JDR Motorex KTM’s Ryan Marmont in the second final of the night, with Marmont going down on the tough blocks and having to settle for fifth overall after 6-5 results.

For Bopping though, the win was a huge moment in his career and a well deserved one in a night where crashes reined supreme in the Lites. His dominance was asserted with a 5.846-second victory in final two.

“I just got good starts, took my time and each person dropped off one by one – I couldn’t be happier,” Bopping commented on the podium.

Second overall was American PJ Larsen, Marmont’s JDR Motorex KTM teammate, winning the opening leg by 2.723 seconds before crashing while running second in the last final of the night and having to settle for fourth in the race.

Larsen closed the points by one to 17 on defending series champion Matt Moss, the Rockstar Motul Suzuki star having a tough evening by his standards with 3-2 results for third overall.

Moss raced with a local anesthetic injection after a qualifying crash, believed to have chipped his knee cap in the heat race, but maintainng his series lead.

“It’s a tough sport, injury’s a given, but it’s a great sport and we’ll keep charging to try and win,” he said.

A solid fourth overall was Queenslander Robbie Marshall (Advanti/Assink Excavations/Unit/Oakley Yamaha) on a 250cc two-stroke with 8-3 results. Rounding out the top five was the luckless Marmont.

In the exhibition races Windham won the Super X Eliminator Challenge taking home the $1000 cash prize and the USA team won the first ever Super X International Relay Challenge.

Team USA was made up of Windham, Hansen, Brayton, Alessi and Larsen and Team Australia was Jay Marmont, Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda’s Daniel Reardon, JDR Motorex KTM’s Tye Simmonds and the Moss twins.

Matt Moss got the Aussies off to a great lead in the first race over Larsen then tapped in Simmonds who maintained the lead by holding off Alessi.

Brayton and Marmont were up next with Brayton unable to gain enough ground. Hansen and Jake Moss followed with Moss maintaining the lead. Reardon and Windham finished off the race changing the lead numerous times, but after a small slip up from Reardon on the rhythm section, Windham passed him and took the win for the US.

Dylan Long was the dominant winner once again in the Michelin Development Series. Jacob Wright was second and Jake Emanuelli third.

The series now has a week off before round four in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, 13 November.

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