Christian Craig won the SX1 Main Event at the 2026 Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship round in Perth on Saturday night, surviving a mid-race scare from Jo Shimoda to extend his series lead — while Max Anstie took a dramatic SX2 win by just 0.155 seconds over Cameron McAdoo at HBF Park.
Perth, the fourth round of the Boost Mobile series and the first stadium Supercross in Western Australia since 2009, ran as a single Main Event per class under the originally published format, after organisers rescinded a planned mid-series switch to three finals on November 9. With Ken Roczen and Cole Davies both finished with their two-round Australian programs after Geelong, the night belonged to the full-season contenders — and to two of the biggest twists of the series so far.
Craig wins after Shimoda's fall
Christian Craig looked the man to beat from the start of the night. The Quad Lock Honda rider topped qualifying with a 52.022-second lap, won the six-rider Superpole shootout with a 52.091, and then won his heat — but the final very nearly got away from him. Jo Shimoda, who won the opening SX1 heat on his Honda CRF450R, led the early laps of the 20-lap main and had Craig bottled up behind him as the pair pulled clear of the field.
The race turned just past halfway. As Craig pressed Shimoda for the lead, the Japanese rider went down. He got up, apparently unhurt, and remounted, but his night was effectively over: he retired after 17 laps and was classified a non-finisher, ending his two-round Australian 450 experiment with a DNF after the podium he scored on debut at Geelong.
Craig controlled the race from there, taking the win in 19:24.682 and setting the fastest lap of the race, a 53.804 on lap two. Cedric Soubeyras finished second on his Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki, 8.562 seconds back, with Craig's Quad Lock Honda teammate Austin Politelli third, 11.439 seconds behind the winner. Hayden Mellross took fourth for Wood Motorsports KTM, and Luke Clout finished fifth, 24.266 seconds back — a result that keeps him second in the championship but leaves him 44 points behind Craig with one round to go.
Behind them, Jorge Zaragoza was sixth on the Stark Varg, one place ahead of Vince Friese in seventh, as Stark Factory Racing again placed two riders inside the top seven. Ryan Alexanderson finished eighth on his Kawasaki, ahead of Dylan Wills' Ducati in ninth and Zachary Watson in tenth. Aaron Tanti failed to finish after four laps, and Jed Beaton did not complete a lap.
The win is Craig's second SX1 round victory of the season after Townsville, and it stretches his Boost Mobile series lead to 44 points over Clout. Roczen, who does not contest the remaining rounds, stays fourth on 150 points.
Anstie beats McAdoo by 0.155s in SX2
Max Anstie won a thrilling SX2 Main Event, holding off Cameron McAdoo by just 0.155 seconds after 15 laps — the closest finish of the series so far, and Anstie's first SX2 round win of the season.
The race had already lost its fastest qualifier before the gate dropped for the final. Lux Turner, who topped SX2 qualifying with a 52.782, crashed out of his heat after a single lap and failed to qualify for the main — a scoreless night that drops him from third to fifth in the championship.
Anstie, riding for MXRP Team Yamaha, took the win in 14:26.292 and set the fastest lap, a 53.508 on lap six. McAdoo shadowed him to the line on his Quad Lock Honda, 0.155 seconds behind, while Michael Hicks completed the podium on the Stark Varg, 16.250 seconds back. Reid Taylor finished fourth, Brodie Connolly fifth, and Jayce Cosford sixth.
Kayd Kingsford, who won the opening SX2 heat, and Dylan Walsh, who won the second heat, both failed to finish the final — Kingsford after six laps, Walsh after three — while Preston Masciangelo also retired after eight laps.
McAdoo's second place stretches his Boost Mobile SX2 lead to 24 points over Cole Davies, whose Australian program is complete. His nearest active challenger is now Connolly, 29 points back in third, with Anstie one point further behind in fourth.
SX1 Main Event results — Perth
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Craig | Honda | 25 |
| 2 | Cedric Soubeyras | Kawasaki | 22 |
| 3 | Austin Politelli | Honda | 20 |
| 4 | Hayden Mellross | KTM | 18 |
| 5 | Luke Clout | KTM | 16 |
| 6 | Jorge Zaragoza | Stark | 15 |
| 7 | Vince Friese | Stark | 14 |
| 8 | Ryan Alexanderson | Kawasaki | 13 |
| 9 | Dylan Wills | Ducati | 12 |
| 10 | Zachary Watson | KTM | 11 |
SX2 Main Event results — Perth
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Anstie | Yamaha | 25 |
| 2 | Cameron McAdoo | Honda | 22 |
| 3 | Michael Hicks | Stark | 20 |
| 4 | Reid Taylor | Kawasaki | 18 |
| 5 | Brodie Connolly | Honda | 16 |
| 6 | Jayce Cosford | Kawasaki | 15 |
| 7 | Alex Larwood | Honda | 14 |
| 8 | Seth Burchell | Yamaha | 13 |
| 9 | Ryder Kingsford | Honda | 12 |
| 10 | Brian Hsu | Stark | 11 |
Championship standings
Craig now leads the Boost Mobile AUSX SX1 standings on 207 points, 44 clear of Clout on 163, with Soubeyras third on 159 and Roczen fourth on 150. Politelli and Zaragoza are tied on 115 points in fifth, ahead of Friese on 108. In SX2, McAdoo leads on 174 — 24 points ahead of Davies on 150 — with Connolly third on 145, Anstie fourth on 144, Turner fifth on 138 and Hicks sixth on 126.
The picture is different in the Motorcycling Australia-sanctioned Australian Supercross Championship, which counts only Auckland, Geelong and Perth after Townsville was run as a non-championship AUSX round. There, Craig leads SX1 on 157 points from Roczen on 150, with Clout third on 123, while Davies leads SX2 on 150 from McAdoo on 146, with Anstie third on 119.
| Pos | SX1 — Boost Mobile AUSX | Pts | Pos | SX2 — Boost Mobile AUSX | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Craig | 207 | 1 | Cameron McAdoo | 174 |
| 2 | Luke Clout | 163 | 2 | Cole Davies | 150 |
| 3 | Cedric Soubeyras | 159 | 3 | Brodie Connolly | 145 |
| 4 | Ken Roczen | 150 | 4 | Max Anstie | 144 |
| 5 | Austin Politelli | 115 | 5 | Lux Turner | 138 |
| 6 | Jorge Zaragoza | 115 | 6 | Michael Hicks | 126 |
What it means for Newcastle
The championship concludes at Newcastle on November 28, which will run two finals per class under the original format — a maximum of 50 points per rider. In SX1, Craig needs just seven points from the two finals to guarantee the title even if Clout wins both. In SX2, McAdoo needs 22 points to be certain of holding off Connolly if the New Zealander sweeps Newcastle — but with Davies absent, the American controls the championship.
For Shimoda, Perth closes the book on his Australian 450 outing: a Geelong podium and a Perth DNF, before he switches back to the 250 for the 2027 AMA Supercross season. For Turner, the task is steeper still — he trails McAdoo by 36 points and needs a perfect Newcastle and trouble ahead of him to stay in the title fight.
Full results are available from the series' official timing provider, Computime. For the round that preceded Perth, see our Geelong results, and for the build-up to this round, our Perth preview.
