News 15 Sep 2016

Rykers reverts to four-stroke for Australian supercross

SX2 rookie makes pivotal switch prior to Jimboomba's season opener.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Davey Motorsports’ Jayden Rykers will revert to a KTM SX-F 250 four-stroke for the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship scheduled to commence this weekend.

Rykers, who is in his SX2 rookie year, shared with MotoOnline.com.au that his decision to switch was a calculated move after predominately racing a 250 two-stroke for the past three years.

“I made the decision to switch over to the four-stroke for supercross just based on the tracks being known to be pretty tight and slick – that’s why I went with the four-stroke,” Rykers explained. “We’re pretty much just chasing traction, plus you can also be a little more consistent on the four-stroke with your range of throttle.”

“I knew from the start of the year that this is what I was going to do, we discussed it with KTM and they were more than happy for me to race the MX Nationals on the two-stroke and then swap over to the four-stroke.”

With only three weeks separating the final round of the MX Nationals and the opening round of the supercross series, the Western Australian admits that his preparation along with his rivals has been tight for time leading into the championship.

“I think with everyone preparation has been a little bit tight. For myself, I feel like I’ve done all that I can for the time that we’ve had,” he continued. “We’re just going into this first round to qualify and then we have another three weeks after that to knuckle down and get everything sorted.”

Rykers will make his Australian supercross debut this Saturday at Jimboomba’s opening round in Queensland.

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