RFN becomes Naming Rights Partner of AUSX’s youth development class, and puts its own electric machines on the gate against combustion 85s.

RFN has been announced as the Naming Rights Partner of the SX85 Futures category in the Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship presented by Monster Energy — with the class now officially rebadged the RFN SX85 Futures, and RFN’s own electric machines racing in it.

Following Stark Future’s AUSX entry earlier this month, which saw the Spanish manufacturer field a dedicated factory team, RFN’s arrangement puts electric technology directly inside AUSX’s existing development pathway. SX85 Futures gives emerging riders the chance to compete on the same Supercross tracks and at the same events as Australia’s leading professional and international riders. Under the new deal, RFN electric motorcycles will line up and race in the class alongside traditional combustion-powered 85cc bikes — not in a separate electric class.

That step is bigger than it sounds. When AUSX announced the Stark deal on 4 September, it set out the gateway plainly: electric machines “must be included on the Electric Motorcycle Approved Competition List and compete in the appropriate class.” RFN’s Warrior Pro SX-E15 is on that list, in both 17/14 and 19/16 wheel configurations, alongside the SX-E15+ at 21/18 — but until now that approval covered motocross and enduro only. The list MA still has published is titled Electric Motorcycle Approved Competition List (Excluding Trial & SX) and is dated 30 October 2025, written before Supercross was opened to electric machines at all. Clearing the 85cc class on a motocross track is one thing. A Supercross start gate is new ground, and the SX85 Futures deal is the first time an electric 85 will take one in this country.

“Having RFN take Naming Rights of SX85 Futures while also putting their electric motorcycles on the start gate is another landmark moment for Australian Supercross,” said Mick Sinclair, Head of Partnerships & Motorsport at AUSX Events. “This isn’t about creating a separate electric category. Electric and combustion motorcycles will race together in the appropriate class, and we’re excited to provide the platform for that competition to happen.”

“SX85 Futures is about developing the next generation of Supercross, so there’s a great alignment with what RFN is bringing to the sport,” Sinclair added. “We want AUSX to be a championship that embraces innovation while protecting great racing. Ultimately, once the bikes are approved and the gate drops, it comes down to the riders and the racing.”

John Bettini, General Manager of RFN Australia, said the partnership gives the brand a chance to prove its technology where it counts most. “We believe the best way to prove electric motorcycle technology is on the racetrack,” Bettini said. “Having our bikes line up alongside combustion 85s gives us the opportunity to demonstrate their performance in genuine Supercross competition.”

Bettini linked the move directly to RFN’s focus on developing younger riders. “The young riders racing SX85 Futures are the future of the sport, and electric motorcycles will be an important part of that future,” he said. “To support these riders while showcasing what our technology can do is a perfect fit for RFN. We can’t wait to see the bikes behind the gate in Geelong.”

It’s an important development for eMoto and moto more broadly — this is a youth pathway class, the exact stage where a generation of Australian riders will form their first opinions on whether electric bikes belong on a Supercross track. RFN putting its name and its Warrior Pro SX-E15 — developed specifically to compete in the 85cc class — directly into that mix, racing head-to-head against combustion machinery rather than running its own support category, is a real bet that the technology is ready for scrutiny from the sport’s next generation, and their parents, coaches, talent scouts and the public.

RFN’s push into AUSX comes on the back of a strong 2026 for the brand domestically: Adam Giles took the eMoto Sportsman class at the Tennessee Knockout on RFN machinery, with Conor Hennessy running near the front of the Pro eMoto division at the same event before a broken chain cost him time. Both rode the E15+ — a larger chassis around the same powertrain as the 85cc-class SX-E15, right down to the 15 kW peak and 650 Nm. Between the TKO results and now a naming-rights stake in one of AUSX’s talent pipelines, RFN is building a case as the local electric brand most invested in proving itself on Australian dirt — not just imported spec sheets, but results and reach into grassroots racing.

The RFN SX85 Futures will run at three of this year’s five AUSX rounds: the AUSX Open at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong (November 7), Perth’s HBF Park (November 14), and McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle (November 28). AUSX says further details on the RFN SX85 Futures rider line-up and RFN’s racing program will be announced ahead of the Geelong opener.

Sources: AUSX Supercross Championship, “RFN Announced as Naming Rights Partner of SX85 Futures”, 14 September 2026; AUSX Supercross Championship, “STARK Joins AUSX Supercross as Electric Motorcycles Get Green Light to Race”, 4 September 2026; Motorcycling Australia, Electric Machine Approved Competition List (Excluding Trial & SX), 30 October 2025.