Olympic medal hope Saya Sakakibara has continued her sizzling form to claim her third successive national BMX title.
Fresh off being crowned overall World Cup champion last month, world No.2 Sakakibara was unstoppable in the championships in Shepparton, country Victoria.
Bodi Turner was also a force in the men's elite national race, claiming back-to-back titles.
Sakakibara, who suffered head injuries in a horror crash at the Tokyo Olympics, dominated all three motos in a small field on the way to a comfortable win ahead of Erin Lockwood and Gemma-Lee Thomas.
“It feels really good to come off the most successful season I've ever had in my career, and then to come back here to Australia, it's really special coming back to nationals," the 24-year-old told AusCycling.
"Everyone supports me watching the World Cups, sending messages on Instagram and things like that, so I think it's really important to come back and just show my face and see everyone and watch them racing as well.”
In the elite men, Turner and Max Cairns emerged as the standout riders through the preliminary rounds with both athletes winning at least three motos including their respective semi-finals.
Track position proved to be critical in the final as Turner led the field through the first two corners and avoided a huge crash on the second turn that effectively wiped out the remaining riders, with only Jack Davis the other rider to emerge unscathed.
Turner held off Davis for a comfortable win by half a second while Aston Wypych-Coles was the quickest to negotiate the debris to pick up the remaining podium place.
