Brayden Elliott has completed his second full season in road racing by finishing equal first in the 2015 Australasian Supersport Championship. Elliott fought back to victory winning the seventh and final round of the series at Sydney Motorsport Park. With the overall result coming down the last race of the season, Brayden was locked on points for equal first with a count back taking place demoting him to second, a strong result on the back of his victory in the Australian Supersport Championship in October.

Brayden proved his point from the first practice sessions taking place on Friday being amongst the top two fastest times in every session. Two strong races in the AFX-SBK series saw the Tumut rider take out the overall round victory also recording the second fastest lap time of the day, allowing him to start from second position on the grid for all three crucial championship deciding races on Saturday. These results were enough to hand Brayden a close third overall for the AFX-SBK series.

Friday’s events built the foundations towards the all important Swann Series races on Saturday. Brayden led the Championship points all year and looked to enter the final round with a one point lead until the ‘drop your worst round’ rule relegated him to second by eleven points prior to the final round. Starting from the front row, he engaged in a tight battle in race one, coming away with second place with a gap of just 0.06 seconds to third. A stern development in race two saw Elliott dominate the race and step up to take the win by two seconds.

Elliott’s never say die attitude had crushed the eleven point gap down to a slim two points meaning the Championship would come down to the final race of the year. A close start in the final eight lap dash saw Brayden in second after turn one, giving it his all he fought into the lead on multiple occasions although could not make the pass stick remaining in second place to cross the line. Brayden managed to set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:34.060, his quickest time of the weekend. With the points being tied at 373, a count back took place and Elliott was subsequently placed in second for the Championship.

Brayden Elliott:

“First of all I want to say thank you to my family, Phil Tainton and Shawn Giles for making this year possible. They have all put in huge amounts of effort and I sincerely owe our improvements and achievements to everyone that has helped out behind the scenes. Also congratulations to Callum (Spriggs) and Michael (Blair), it’s been great battling all year with riders you can have confidence with out on track.”

“Looking back on the Championship, I think we have far exceeded all expectations. Entering round one starting my second year road racing, I don’t think many people considered me a serious Championship contender and also disregarded the Suzuki as being competitive as it hadn’t been on the podium for a few years. To win round one and maintain that Championship lead all year, being the only Suzuki rider was very satisfying and also rewarding to get results that showed the effort and determination put in.”

“As we all know, the rule to drop a round worked heavily against me but at the end of the day we knew the situation and it could have gone either way. I knew entering the final round eleven points down was a big ask but surrounded by a supportive family backed team we all had nothing but belief it could be done.”

“I certainly have no regrets as I know I gave it 100% and to gain back all eleven points over three races is something to be proud of. When I finished the final race knowing I had come equal first for the Championship, I thought I had won expecting the points to go back to the seven rounds we had raced, meaning a victory by eleven points. Unfortunately for myself that wasn’t the way it ended up and I was awarded with second position by count back.”

“Winning the final round was a good way to finish 2015 with our heads held high knowing we never gave up and continued to fight back. Taking away the positives, I know these are the situations that will only make me a better and stronger rider in the future.”

Brayden’s 2016 racing plans will be announced in coming months.