HOLY SHIT – that’s a brief and encompassing statement regarding this year’s Melbourne SX held over the weekend. Racing action, crowd atmosphere and the scale of the event rivaled any other SX you see on TV. If there is one image that tells the story of the night, especially in the SX2 class – this is it.

Dan Reardon (SX1) down again in his heat race. He would later come back and win the LCQ and finish the night on the podium.

Myself and the cuzzies, Karl and Sam decided to make the trip to Melbourne for the final Australian Supercross round, which was to be held inside Marvel Stadium. 30,000+ attended the event and we spend three days checking out the sights and sounds of this great Victorian city.

Melbourne at night is a beautiful thing.

The racing action was crazy-good and the atmosphere was buzzing as a couple of the best SX riders from America battled against the best Australia had to offer. Apart from the relay race, which was won by team Australia, America had the last laugh, taking away both SX1 and SX2 classes, as well as the AUS-X Open and Oceania crown. And as it turned out, pretty easily too.

Pyrotechnics were top notch at Marvel Stadium.

Starting with the SX2 class, Josh Osby came into Melbourne with a points lead that was going to be tough to claw back. Chris Blose, Jay Wilson, and Mitchell Oldenburg had mathematical chances to catch Osby and clinch the crown – Blose being the closest of the three points-wise. The amount of crashing and yard-sales during the three main events was unbelievable. Carnage everywhere with the first two races marred by the red cross flag for half of the race.

SX2 Start. Don’t be fooled by the empty seats, there was a massive crowd.

Jay Wilson had a great night and showed why he was rocking the Number 1 on his CDR Yamaha. His understated moto finishes of 3-2-3 during the triple crown event gave him 3rd on the night.

Mitchel Oldenburg had a cracker of a night, going 1-5-1 to win the night’s event. He never started at the font and always made himself work for it, but you could never fault his speed and smart use of the Repco shortcut. This also boosted him up the series ladder to finish second. Well deserved.

For championship leader Josh Osby – he had a night to forget with uncharacteristic crashing and only OK starts handing the other riders a fighting chance. But it was Race 3 where it all came unstuck. Osby nailed the start and was running upfront in what looked to be a championship-winning moment. But as the Gods of speed often do, they laid wrath upon the American and his KTM started smoking up a storm. Osby had to nurse the bike home in 12th and in doing so, also went down, costing even more time. Unfortunately, his championship was dead in the water. The back-to-back-to-back races taking its toll on his KTM 250S X-F and slipping him from points leader to fourth in the championship.

Chris Blose had the best chance of knocking Osby off his championship run, and he did all the right things during the course of the night’s racing. He got consistent good starts, made no big mistakes, took the Repco shortcut at the right time and watched all his other competitors around him fall on his way to a calculated win. His 2-1-4 easily enough, considering his main rival has such bad results. Well deserved by a veteran of the sport.

Making his Pro Racing debut in Melbourne was Australia’s own Jet Lawrence. Piloting a Honda CRF250R, Jet showed incredible speed throughout the night and animation on a bike that is unmistakable. The kid clearly has a bright future and will be joining his brother Hunter Lawrence in the AMA championship for 2020, riding a Geico Honda. For his efforts on the night, he was unlucky to finish off the podium, giving up crucial positions, including a race win to Mitchel Oldenburg on the very last corner.

It wouldn’t be a supercross without the freestyle guys out to fill some downtime. The crowd decided best whip and best trick did he job and we think some of the whips thrown down rival even the double backflip.

We visited Luna park in St Kilder, because Sam had never been on a roller coaster before in his life!

The Rain Room, where it’s raining everywhere but on you. Trippy.

Melbourne delights for breakfast. Yes that is candy floss on french toast.

Melbourne Central is the place to grow debt and sorrow, and buy pretty new things too.

But back to the racing…

Probably about 100k worth of casual spare bikes lying around should the need arise.

The SX1 class may not have had the same amount of carnage as SX2 (albeit only slightly), but the racing was just as good as Justin Brayton and Jason Anderson showed just how much experience riders gain by racing the AMA Supercross series – they are just that much better, especially when it comes down to the fat lady singing.

Chad Reed made an announcement during opening ceremonies, that tonight was going to be the final time he will be competing as a professional dirt bike racer in Australia. 2020 will be his final season with A1, should he qualify for the night show, be his 250th Pro race. It will be 22 years since he started his professional racing career and both those milestones are a big deal to the Australian rider. He even led half the first triple crown race after getting a clear holeshot.

I think we all knew it was coming, and we are also lucky that we know now before the season ends, so we can enjoy the last few times we see him racing a dirt bike. How many more after race 250 will Reed show up to? Our guess is not many. Congrats on a long, successful career CR22.

Luke Clout came into the final round with 1 point over American Justin Brayton. He had taken the pints lead back in Auckland and was looking to win his first 450cc SX title from the current 3-time champ. His speed was undeniable, posting the fastest time in qualifying and winning the shootout. But you have to perform all night long and Clout came up rather short. A raft of mistakes, crashes and poor starts threw his championship away at a time when Luke was looking like the favourite to win. To finish first, first, you have to finish…and he struggled in two of the three main events.

Josh Hill had a great night on the track, finishing the night in 3rd overall with a very understated 3-4-2 score line. He was not flashy on the track, but had consistent starts and no mistakes, leading to the podium finish. Thankfully no back flips either.

Jason Anderson was the smoothest rider most of the night. Bar his race one debacle where he was taken out by Reed at the end of the whoops, Anderson was calm, calculated and collected. The ultra-slippery track was obviously his cup of tea, as he then went on to win the final two races of the night with relative ease. Anderson claimed the Oceania and AUS-X Open crown, and finished second on the night despite his 7th in Race 1.

But it was Brayton who was the king of Melbourne. His super-consistent 1-2-2 in the triple crown event gave him the overall for the night, while also easily securing himself the Australian Supercross title for the fourth year running. After taking the win in Race 1, combined with Luke Clout all but throwing his race away, the final two races saw Brayton ride to win, allowing Anderson to take the lead while never really putting up a huge fight.

He needed to stay ahead of Clout and that became easy when Clout put himself in trouble each race. Brayton’s performance was a true indication of the superiority of the American AMA riders. Not necessarily in speed, but in racecraft, knowing when to hang it out, and knowing when to ease it home. You need more than just raw speed to be 4X champ.

It seems you no longer have to travel to America to see what international standard Supercross looks like. The team at AME did a fantastic job of running the event and bringing SX into the kind of facility it should be raced in. And Marvel Stadium was the perfect location.