Serco Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti made his third trip to the podium in four rounds as he claimed third place at round four of the Australian Supercross Championship in Auckland.
Contesting the SX2 (250cc) class, Tanti continues to shine in the 2019 Supercross season as he battles with a host of US based riders in the highly competitive class and remains in third place in the championship standings, just seven points from the series lead.
Tanti again raced well at round four and posted consistent results in the three back to back sprint races that made up the format on the night. He finished with 3-4-2 results to claim third on the night in a tight knit group that saw the riders in second, third and fourth all separated by a single point each.
Tanti used the Sky City Short-cut to his advantage in race one after a small fall but proved he belongs at the front in the remaining two races on route to his podium finish. It also kept him in the championship hunt, and it all comes down to the final round with the top three riders just seven points apart and the top five just 20 apart and all in with a mathematical chance of taking the championship.
“Its always good to get on the podium and we were again able to do that tonight,” Tanti begins. “My pace was pretty good all night and it was just a matter of not getting caught up in the craziness at the start of each race as there were lots of bikes and riders going everywhere.
“I would like to have made up a couple of points tonight but with just seven points between the top three, the pressure is on the guys in front of me. I can turn up in Melbourne and just go for it and see where it takes me. I have nothing to protect or lose so I might as well lay it all on the line and see what comes of it,” he warns.
“But, the NZ race was great fun and thanks to everyone who made it happen. Its tough on the teams and mechanics so thanks to everyone at Serco Yamaha for making it easy on us.”
Drafted into the Serco Yamaha team for the final two rounds was Connor Tierney who had his first hit out on board the team YZ250F. Tierney had raced well at the opening three rounds and when Jacob Hayes was unable to compete at the final two rounds due to injury, Tierney got the call and made a promising start to his guest ride.
Tierney finished the night in sixth pace on the back of his 7-7-9 results in a good debut performance for the team. It also moves him to eighth place in the championship.
“I was a bit nervous as it was my first time on the Serco Yamaha and also a heap of new people to work with and as a result, I probably rode a bit stiff and tight.
“The bike was great and the team had everything taken care of, I just need to relax and everything will be good. Now the first one is out of the way, I think the next round will be much better and we can improve on this result.
“Thanks to Gavin, Teasy and everyone at Serco Yamaha for making this happen and I look forward to the next round in Melbourne,” Tierney said.
With a weekend off before the final round of the series, the Serco Yamaha team will fine tune everything in preparation for a big grand finale to the year at Marvel Stadium.
SX2 Round Results
1st Josh Osby: 1-2-3
2nd Chris Blose: 4-3-1
3rd Aaron Tanti: 3-4-2 (Serco Yamaha)
4th Jay Wilson: 5-1-4
5th Mitchell Oldenburg: 2-5-6
6th Connor Tierney: 7-7-9 (Serco Yamaha)
7th Regan Duffy: 8-6-10
8th Daniel Sanayei: 6-9-12
9th Dylan Wills: 11-10-8
10th Geran Stapleton 12-15-5
SX2 Championship Standings
1st Josh Osby- 87
2nd Chris Blose – 83
3rd Aaron Tanti- 80 (Yamaha YZ250F)
4th Mitchell Oldenburg – 74
5th Jay Wilson – 76 (Yamaha YZ250F)
6th Dylan Wills – 50
7th Bradley Taft – 45
8th Connor Tierney – 43 (Yamaha YZ250F)
9th Regan Duffy – 41
10th Ricky Latimer – 35 (Yamaha YZ250F)
Photos: Marc Jones