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Polyflor Froth Honda Racing’s Shane McElrath claimed the 2024 Australian SX2 championship with another clean-sweep of race wins and the overall at a dramatic AUSX Open Melbourne to conclude the season.

McElrath proved why he was the class of the SX2 field, topping qualifying, then winning each of the three finals on a track that caught many racers out.

Joining McElrath on the round podium was his Honda Racing team-mate Cole Thompson, and KTM Racing Team’s Kayden Minear, who enjoyed his first-ever supercross top three.

The first SX2 race went to the American, after a good start saw him positioned well to get past holeshot winner Minear on the first lap and check out with some smooth, fast laps.

He hit the finishline 4.7s ahead of Thompson, who made a late pass on Minear for the runner-up spot. Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s US import Phil Nicoletti finished a distant fourth, with Froth Honda Racing’s Alex Larwood in fifth.

McElrath was awarded the second-race win after the two riders ahead of him were penalised for jumping on a red cross flag.

Minear, who led the pack through the first turn and was first to cross the finish line, and second-placed Thompson were both docked two positions for the infringement. That opened the door for McElrath to take the win, despite being buried in the pack on the opening lap, and Larwood to claim P2.

A disappointed Minear and Thompson would then finish third and fourth once the penalties were applied, and Reid Taylor (Empire Kawasaki) finished fifth. McElrath wrapped up his stellar AUSX campaign with a 5.7-second win in the final 10-lap race of the season.

It was again Minear who claimed the holeshot, but McElrath was able to quickly overcome his top five start to pass early leader Brodie Connolly (Polyflor Honda Racing).

Thompson also worked his way through the early front-runners to finish second, while Connolly made it a Honda 1-2-3 for the race. Minear withstood an incredible amount of pressure all race to finish P4 and with a career-first supercross round podium, and Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) crossed the line in fifth.

McElrath spearheaded a Honda podium sweep in the final championship points. He finished the five rounds on 113 points, while Thompson was able to edge Connolly for second (96 and 94 points).

Detailed results