Kit Palmer | November 29, 2015
Cooper Webb topped Sunday’s racing at the AUS-X Open Championship in Australia.
YamaLube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb edged out Chad Reed to grab the inaugural two-day AUS-X Open Championship at the AllPhones Arena in Sydney, Australia, November 28-29.
Reed got the crowed excited when the won the first night of racing, leading the whole way while fellow Aussie Gavin Faith kept him close every lap. Another Australian, Dan Reardon, who recently came out of retirement, made it an all-Aussie podium.
Webb finished fourth after getting off to a bad start.
On the all-deciding second night of racing, Webb was the big winner but not after an exciting race involving Reed, Reardon and Australian Lawson Bopping.
Reed had a bad start this time but quickly worked his way to the front part of the pack. At one point, leader Reardon, Webb and Reed all got tangled up, giving the point position back to early leader Bopping.
Webb got away first and soon caught and passed Bopping, as did Reed a little later.
Reed tried to catch Webb in the waning laps but couldn’t overtake the young star, Webb, who was then officially crowned the AUS-X Champion.
“I’m stoked to be crowned the AUS-X Open champion in Sydney, it was a crazy race to say the least!” Webb said. “I knew it was going be a tough race to win, you know Chad’s the fastest guy here and I knew he was going to be extremely hard to beat, but I just put my head down and tried to be smart and I held him off, barely.”
“Win or lose it’s a win for me this weekend and thanks so much to the fans out here for making the AUS-X Open such an awesome event,” said Reed. “This event is a real boost for Supercross in Australia and I just want to thank Ricky [Carmichael] and Cooper for coming out and most importantly the fans who came down to Sydney or watched the broadcast on 7mate, it’s been an awesome weekend back home.”
In the 250cc, Honda rider Jimmy Decotis captured the win both nights.
Chad Reed (22) and Ricky Carmichael (4) battle it out.
The weekend also featured an three-lap head-to-head exhibition race between Reed and long-time rival Ricky Carmichael, who impressed the crowd with his speed, but it wasn’t good enough to beat Reed.
Reed won both nights but had to blitz the whoops on the last lap of the final night to get around RC.
“It was an exciting weekend and you couldn’t have asked for it to turn out any better than the way it did…so it was a really fantastic event,” said Carmichael. “The fans were fabulous and personally they gave me an incredible welcoming and I’m thankful for the opportunity and hope to be back here in Sydney again.”
RESULTS
SATURDAY
SX1
- Chad Reed
- Gavin Faith
- Dan Reardon
- Cooper Webb
- Daniel McCoy
- Lawson Bopping
- Kade Mosig
- Kale Makeham
- Cheyne Boyd
- Luke Styke
SX2
- Jimmy Decotis
- Wade Hunter
- Jackson Richardson
- Geran Stapleton
- Lewis Woods
- Jack Simpson
- Joel Wightman
- Luke Wilson
SUNDAY
SX1
- Cooper Webb
- Chad Reed
- Lawson Bopping
- Daniel McCoy
- Daniel Reardon
- Cheyne Boyd
- Robbie Marshall
- Aaron Tanti
- Jono Krusic
10 Josh Spanos
SX2
- Jimmy DECOTIS
- Jackson RICHARDSON
- Geran STAPLETON
- Joel WIGHTMAN
- Tomas RAVENHORST
- Jesse MADDEN
- Jake VELLA
- Lewis WOODS
- Jack SIMPSON
- Jake WILLIAMS