Aaron Tanti On Aussie SX Roll

Adelaide turned on the weather and a picture-perfect venue at the Wayville Showgrounds, where an enthusiastic crowd saw Aaron Tanti lead the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team to a memorable night as he marked his first supercross victory, while teammate, Josh Hill, slotted into third place.

Tanti, the current Australian Motocross Champion, came into Round 2 in second place behind US rider, Justin Brayton, but was determined to square up the points with his international rival and not let the points gap increase in the short four-round series.

The rivals went head-to-head in their heat race with Brayton just holding off Tanti, but the tables were to be reversed come the all-important 20-lap main event.

In the main, it was Matt Moss who charged into the first turn with the lead, but closely followed by Brayton and Tanti. In a desperate scramble, the opening 40 seconds of the race was dynamic as the three traded positions with intensity. But as lap one was complete, it was Tanti in front on his YZ450F, shadowed by Brayton and Moss.

From then on, it was a battle of wills, as the pair were never separated by more than five bike lengths for the next 19 laps. Brayton would edge closer, Tanti would counter-punch and pull the gap back out, and that went on right to the finish. In the end, despite Brayton being close, Tanti never gave him a decent look at a passing attempt, and it was Tanti that hit the finish line with fist in the air and the fireworks went off to commemorate is maiden national supercross win.

“I’m pretty happy with that one,” Tanti said not long after the epic encounter. “Justin is a great rider and competitor and I knew had to do race 20 good laps to give myself a chance to win this as he doesn’t make many mistakes out there. The track was fast and you had to ride it with intensity as it was easy to lose time, but very hard to make it up, so every corner and every jump had to be done at 100 percent or I knew Justin would be all over me. I’m happy with myself that I was able to stay composed under pressure and keep focused on what was ahead of me for the full race. That was something I wanted to improve from last week, so it’s good to be able to execute that here in Adelaide.

“Thanks to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team and everyone that supports us. It’s a real team effort and to have both Josh and myself on the podium shows how hard everyone works and how we all pull together. I’m pretty pumped on this one so it might take a while to get to sleep tonight,” Tanti went on to say.

Parked alongside him on the podium was CDR Yamaha teammate, Josh Hill, who put in a spirited ride to come home in third place making it a team 1-3 on the night. Hill, who skipped his honeymoon to stay in Australia and compete in Adelaide, rewarded the team with an impressive podium performance.

Hill was just outside the top five on the opening lap, but he did what he does best and just hustle for 20 laps. He quickly moved into fourth and then set his sights on Matt Moss, who was in third. Hill hounded the former champ for the next 10 laps before making his move and taking third place.

He kept the hammer down in pursuit of the leading duo and, while able to match the pace of the pair up front, he was never able to close the gap and he sailed across the finish line in third, satisfied with his efforts.

“I didn’t start the night well as my times in both qualifying and the heat race weren’t great. So I’m happy to be able to turn that around in the main event to finish third,” explained the American. “The boys out the front got away from me early and they kept their pace the entire race so I could never get in the battle for the lead as they were already too far up the track. Congrats to Aaron on his win. He rode an awesome race, and I can see how determined he is with his racing. I’m happy I get to share that with him and the team on a memorable night for him.

“I love racing here in Australia and everyone treats me so well. The CDR Yamaha team do an amazing job and working with them is so easy. Hopefully we can sort something out as I would love to do the last two rounds with the team and spend more time down here,” Hill said.

Round 3 of the ASX moves to Newcastle on November 19, where the battle will continue for the SX1 championship between Tanti and Brayton. With nearly 15,000 tickets pre-sold, the MacDonald Jones Stadium is set to play host to the next edition of what is becoming a great battle for the 2022 Fox Australian Supercross Championship.

For more news and detailed results, head to the Australian Supercross Championship’s website.