American guest Jace Owen broke through to claim his first podium in the 2018 Australian Supercross Championship on Saturday night at Port Adelaide’s penultimate round of the series.

Owen led a number of laps in the trio of mains, finishing runner-up in the first two outings, which ultimately positioned him as the prime candidate to take out the overall win.

However, the Complete Parts Kawasaki Racing ace was cruelly denied of a chance for victory in the final encounter of the evening when a downed Luke Clout (KTM Motocross Racing Team) crossed into is path, forcing him to the ground in the process.

He recovered for eighth position, granting him third overall while marking the first premier class podium for the Dyson Motorsport-operated squad, along with the all-new 2019 Kawasaki KX450.

“Today is the best day I’ve had over here in Australia,” Owen stated. “In the first three rounds I struggled to get going, but finally today I felt like myself all-day long and it feels good with a third overall. I led a lot of laps in the first two mains and ended up second.

“But in the third main I was coming through and [Luke] Clout went down in front of me and I smacked right into him and I went down as well. It’s unfortunate for me, I knew I could’ve fought for the win tonight, but at the end of the day we’re still up on the podium. I couldn’t be happier with the team and the new KX450.”

The stellar result promoted Owen to third in the standings with just one more round at Sydney for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open, where he currently trails leader Justin Brayton (Penrite Honda Racing) by 25 points.