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Empire Kawasaki Supercross team take the heat in Adelaide (Rd 2)
Empire Kawasaki Supercross team focusing on the positives after the Adelaide round.
The Empire Kawasaki team of Jackson Richardson, Jai Constantinou, and Haruki Yokoyama are all taking positives out of an eventful night of competition at the second round of the 2022 Australian Supercross Championship in Adelaide.
In the SX1 class, Richardson’s enjoyed a solid start to the day after he qualified fourth, then charged to a brilliant victory in his heat race.
The North Queenslander again put his KX450 in the mix with a good start in the SX1 final, but he lost several positions early when he came together with another rider. Richardson continued to click off laps to finish P8, solidifying his eighth position in the championship.
“We might’ve got the same result as we did in Melbourne, but overall we made a big improvement,” Richardson reflected. “I’m a little disappointed with the end result after a promising start to the day, but we know what we need to work on to close the gap on the front guys.”
In the SX2 category, Constantinou and Yokoyama finished 10th and 11th respectively in the main event aboard their KX250s.
A mid-pack start by Constantinou saw him embroiled in battles as he found himself shuffling back and forth several positions throughout the race, before settling into a rhythm that would see him finish in the top 10. He’s now sixth in the SX2 points.
“I struggled a bit with the track today, but considering this was only my second supercross, I feel like it was a good night of learning,” said Constantinou. “I’m nursing a bit of an injury as well, so while a top 10 result isn’t where I’d like to be, I’m happy to keep learning and progressing as the championship goes on.”
After dislocating his shoulder at last week’s opening round, Japanese talent Yokoyama and his KX250 rocketed off the gate in the SX2 final, rounding the first turn in the top three.
Unfortunately, he crashed with another rider soon after, as they took different options through a rhythm section. He remounted at the back of the pack, but determined to earn points after a scoreless weekend prior, Yokoyama kept moving forward to finish 11th.
“I’m not happy with the result, but I’m happy to finish a full race and get some points,” Yokoyama commented. “I’m disappointed to have crashed early in the race as I felt good and it could’ve been a much better result for me.”
2022 AUSX Rd2 Adelaide, SA - Round Results
SX1 main event results:
1. Aaron Tanti 2. Justin Brayton 3. Josh Hill 8. Jackson Richardson (Empire Kawasaki)
SX2 main event results:
1. Max Anstie 2. Wilson Todd 3. Noah Ferguson 10. Jai Constantinou (Empire Kawasaki) 11. Haruki Yokoyama (Empire Kawasaki)
The third round of this year's Australian Supercross Championship will be held at Newcastle, New South Wales, on Saturday, 26 November.