American Jace Owen has credited the all-new 2019 Kawasaki KX450 for his two hole-shots from two starts in Saturday’s opening round of the Australian Supercross Championship in Jimboomba, Queensland.

The round not only marked Owen’s first appearance aboard the KX450, but it was also the model’s first domestic outing in national competition.

The Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing rider shot out to two hole-shots in his heat race and main event, leading a number of laps in the 20-lap affair before earning fifth in his first race on Australian soil.

“I love the hydraulic clutch and it has a great feel for the starts,” Owen explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “Coming out of the gate, it just rocketed out – the release point is awesome. As soon as I clicked third gear, there was no one either side of me – the bike is just awesome.

“I’m quite satisfied with fifth. I’ve only had a couple of weeks on the 2019 KX450 and it was my first race back in a while from injury, so there were a lot of nerves to get out of the way today. I pulled the hole-shot in my heat race and led all the way to the last lap – that was a good first race back for me. I got another hole-shot in the main and led for a few laps, but now we have three weeks to continue building and testing.”

Owen, who has been sidelined for much of 2018 with a knee injury, was drafted into the squad for the entire Australian Supercross Championship. The next round on the calendar is scheduled for 6 October at Coolum in Queensland.