IN
THE
WIND
P36
BRAYTON CROWNED AUSTRALIA
SUPERCROSS CHAMPION
J
ustin Brayton wrapped up his
second consecutive super-
cross title in Australia, November
18. At the Jimboomba X Stadium
in Queensland, Brayton struggled
to a fifth-place finish in what were
wet and muddy conditions, but
that was more than enough for
the Penrite Honda Racing-backed
Brayton to seal the deal. He now
heads back to the U.S. to cam-
paign the 2018 Monster Energy
Supercross Series on the Moto-
Concepts/Honda Team.
"Tonight was the toughest
Supercross race I think I have
competed in; it was a matter of
survival," said Brayton. "Riders
were crashing without warning
so I needed to remind myself
throughout the final that to win
the championship we needed to
finish."
At the Australian final, fel-
low American Nick Schmidt
came way with his first major
supercross victory. Although he
crossed the finish line in second
place, the rider finishing ahead of
him, Nathan Crawford, was later
penalized for an earlier off-track
excursion that officials felt gave
him an advantage in the race. As
a result, Crawford was officially
awarded third place and Kade
Mosig second.
"I'm definitely excited," said
Schmidt. "I felt good all day and
coming into the round we had
a great week. We've had some
bad luck so far this season but
we managed to turn it all around.
I got a decent start in the main
event and I was sitting in fourth
and I just put my head down and
got to work. It was so muddy but
I just kept picking off guys and
making my way toward the lead.
My mechanic just kept telling me
to keep it on two wheels and I
was determined to put Suzuki on
the podium. A lot of crazy stuff
went on after the race but the
officials looked at it all and they
ended up giving me the overall
which is awesome."
Jackson Richard wrapped up
the SX2 Championship with a
fourth-place finish at Jimboomba.
Jay Wilson took the win ahead of
Chris Blose and Dylan Wills. CN
SX1
1. Nick Schmidt (Suz)
2. Kade Mosig
3. Nathan Crawford
4. Dan Reardon
5. Justin Brayton
6. Dean Ferris
7. Joel Wightman
8. Dylan Long
9. Daniel Herrlein
Anyone who disagrees, you're
not someone who I want sur-
rounding me anyways.
"Thank you, and I'm sincerely
sorry for the controversies."
Justin Morgan, of the win-
ning Arredondo team said in a
comment on his own Facebook
page: "Yes, we won. It was a
very close race all day, two very
competitive teams. There was
a big issue at the finish line with
the other team, SCORE gave
them a time penalty. That time
penalty made the difference
and we ended up with the win.
There are a few different ways
you can look at this decision by
SCORE. And there are a lot of
people butt hurt and the large
amount of people are happy. I
personally hate to win a race on
a penalty, but it was completely
out of our hands." CN
Justin Brayton won the 2017
Australian Supercross Championship.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
AUSTRLIANSUPERCROSS.COM
