Image: Marc Jones.

Hot on the heels of the news there will be a full grid loaded with more than a dozen top contenders in the SX1 class, organisers have now confirmed the talent pool runs even deeper in the SX2 division of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship.

And with reigning SX2 champion, American Gavin Faith, this year moving up to SX1 with the Penrite Honda Racing team, the way is wide open for a brand new SX2 champion to be crowned at the conclusion of this year’s six-round, four-state Australian Supercross Championship title chase.

In just over a week’s time, the Supercheap Auto-sponsored opening round of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship will roar into life at Bathurst Showground on Saturday, 10 October, taking place on the same weekend as the annual V8 Supercars motorsport feast at Mount Panorama, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Headlining the quarter-litre class charge will be the recently-crowned MX2 champion of the MX Nationals, JCR Yamaha rider Jay Wilson, who is racing the clock to be back to full fitness after being injured in Europe just a couple of weeks ago while preparing for the Motocross of Nations.

Serco Yamaha riders Luke Clout – who got the last-minute call to replace Wilson in the Aussie team at the MXON – and Jed Beaton will be powerful representatives of Yamaha’s factory-backed SX2 team in the supercross battle.

In the KTM camp, there’s a veritable orange army of SX2 title contenders, lead by young gun Caleb Ward, who has already been signed to the factory KTM Motocross Racing Team for 2016.

Meanwhile the Davey Motorsports KTM team will field a two-rider attack featuring Lewis Woods and Jack Simpson, while last year’s SXD champion, Newcastle KTM’s Dylan Wills, has stepped up to SX2 this season and will be out to replicate his recent moto-winning rides from the MX Nationals.

Geran Stapleton and Luke Wilson head the Honda charge as teammates in the Penrite Honda Wilson MX outfit, while up and coming NSW racer, Joel Wightman, will be contesting the entire championship for the Honda CRF Racing team.

Bolstering the ranks of Honda-mounted racers will be Victorian Taylor Potter, who is back home after another American Supercross season, and has happy memories of finishing a solid second behind Faith in last year’s SX2 Australian championship, which included a big win at the final round in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, it’s anticipated the factory-backed Penrite Honda Racing team is set to announce a late entry for the SX2 title chase – stay tuned for more details.

In the Husqvarna camp, factory support riders Nathan Crawford and Luke Arbon will be carrying the hopes of the brand that has a proud 100-plus year heritage, with Arbon confirming he’s back to full fitness after suffering a mid-season chronic fatigue virus.

Proformance Kawasaki is Kawasaki Australia’s official 250F team and the Victorian squad has announced the vastly experienced Cody Mackie will be lining up for selected SX2 supercross outings this year.

Another campaigner with serious credentials, Josh Cachia, will be contesting the SX2 title for the DPH Motorsports Peter Stevens Yamaha team, while at Raceline Pirelli Suzuki, young gun Jesse Madden will be another SX2 title hopeful.

That’s 16 top contenders confirmed for SX2, and with more to come, and with more fast young guns in the capacity field surely intent on making their mark in the sport, the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship’s SX2 showdown looks set to be a classic!