Brayton dominates Wayville ASX | Mellross SX2 leader
Words & Images: Marc Jones Photography
After completing the Queensland leg of the Australian Supercross Series, riders headed to Wayville, South Australia and were greeted with perfect conditions and a fresh track layout. The rivalry between the homegrown heroes and Americans was played up in the rider intro, giving the crowd a sense of the action that would play out through the night.
Open class leader Justin Brayton entered the heats as favourite after taken the every main event win so far, but a series of small crashes left him battling out back, to fight for a place in the final.
Dean Ferris however, continued his form racing away to a heat win. Wil Hahn managed to secure the second heat win, looking comfortable on foreign soil, with defending champion Dan Reardon returning to form to secure the second spot.
The sun went down, and the gates dropped on the main event, and in a complete turnaround of the heats, Justin Brayton took the holeshot raced away early. Kade Mosig and Dan Reardon clashed in the third corner, giving Brayton an extra gap out front.
Heat winner Wil Hahn made it hard for himself starting mid-pack and having to pick his way through the field. Series contender Dean Ferris had a bad night on his terms, racing to a sixth-place after battling with Todd Waters, who would eventually DNF.
Out front, Brayton was unstoppable, riding with class to move through lap traffic and take the win for the night. Behind him, a matter of seconds separated Reardon, Kyle Peters and Hahn who did well to make his way through a stacked field.
Justin Brayton – MX1 P1
“The race wasn’t easy at all, everyone was riding good. I’m stoked to see Dan (Reardon) up there and battling with him again. The fans were great; I could hear them every time I came past the stands through the rhythm section. It was good to get a good start; I had a rough heat race and went down a couple of times. I had to get the holeshot and redeem myself a little bit.”
Dan Reardon – MX1 P2
“I had a pretty good night considering, I’ve been struggling with this injury all season so be able to put laps together is a great feeling. A few of the rhythms proved tough during the race and wore out as the race went on, so to race them for 20 laps was a good feeling. I retired a couple of years ago but I’m back now and I’ll be here for a long time.”
For Peters, it was his first podium of the year and a sign that he has the pace to run out front. Out of retirement rider Jay Marmont once again showed why he is a former champion, looking solid aboard his Husqvarna, taking the fifth place spot for the second time this year.
Kyle Peters – MX1 P3
“My night started off a little bit rough in the heat race, but I’ve been working really hard on the bike and got it to where I wanted it. I’m grateful to be out here in Australia, but I’d love to get on the top step to give back to everyone who has helped me get there.”
SX 1 Final
- Justin BRAYTON
- Daniel REARDON +8.394
- Kyle PETERS +11.019
- Wil HAHN +14.054
- Jay MARMONT +25.687
- Dean FERRIS +35.695
- Kade MOSIG +41.273
- Jesse DOBSON+46.576
- Jay WILSON +1 lap
- Adam ENTICKNAP +1 lap
- Lawson BOPPING +2 laps
- Luke WILSON +2 laps
- Chris CAMILLERI +2 laps
- Boyd HOCKING +3 laps
- James ALEN +4 laps
- Joel NEWTON +4 laps
DNF Todd WATERS
DNF Jonathon KRUSIC
SX1 Points
- Justin BRAYTON 75 Points
- Dean FERRIS 57 Points
- Wil HAHN 56 Points
- Daniel REARDON 52 Points
- Jay MARMONT 45 Points
- Kade MOSIG 44 Points
- Kyle PETERS 38 Points
- Jay WILSON 37 Points
- Adam ENTICKNAP 36 Points
- Luke WILSON 35 Points
- Boyd Hocking 24 Points
- Lawson Bopping 21 Points
- Todd Waters 18 Points
- Jesse Dobson 17 Points
- Kyle Newton 15 Points
Hayden Mellross Tops SX2 Final | Holds overall lead
The Lites class featured an array of riders that could snatch the night’s win without any questions asked. Wayville marked the return home for Luke Clout, who’s returned from a stint in the USA to replace Jimmy Decotis after he went home to concentrate on next year following a concussion at the last round in Toowoomba.
Heat one pinned red plate holder Hayden Mellross against former champion Gavin Faith, with Faith taking the lead early as a cat and mouse chase entailed with Mellross, who kept Faith on his toes for the entire race. Mellross managed to make the pass late in the race to take the win ahead of Faith, as Clout returned home in form rounding out the podium.
Kale Makeham shot away to an early lead in heat two with last rounds third place getter Geran Stapleton following closely. The two had battled before Stapleton went down hard once again finding himself in the LCQ.
Coming in fast was Jackson Richardson, carrying momentum from his win at Toowoomba, taking the lead from Makeham mid-race and running away to victory. A great return to form for Makeham though, who’s shown in the past he has the supercross skills to match the best. Joel Wightman rounded out the podium after having a great run in qualifying earlier in the day.
It was anybody’s guess who would take the main event win, but the Yamaha pair of Wade Hunter and Hayden Mellross gave themselves the best opportunity rounding the first corner ahead of the pack. Mellross’ shear speed in the whoops was enough to separate the riders and give him the lead early ahead of rival Gavin Faith.
Hayden Mellross – MX2 P1
“It was my first time racing supercross here in Adelaide, and the crowd definitely got me going out there. Especially racing these Americans, there’s no better feeling than to be in your home country and up on the top step. I’ve got a great team behind me, and they’re the reason I’m up here tonight, they put in the hard yards during the week and I can’t be more thankful to the DPH Motosport crew and sponsors.”
The two had shown in the heats how hungry they were to take the main event win, battling out the race there and this wasn’t much different. Faith gave it his all, but the young Australian found another gear late-race to pull away from Faith and the field to light the candles once again. Hunter put up his best effort to keep up with Faith but couldn’t match his pace for the 15 laps.
Gavin Faith – MX2 P2
“Tonight was a lot better than last week, I had a tough round wanted to redeem myself. Hayden (Mellross) is riding really well and I just tried to ride consistent while trying to match his pace. We put in a lot of work on the bike to get it ready for this weekend and it really paid off for me. I’m looking forward to the next round in Melbourne, it’s a home town race so to speak as its where I’m based at the moment, so it will be good to get there and give it my all and hopefully go one spot better.”
Geran Stapleton was amongst the leaders early in the race, but an incident with another rider once again left him picking up his bike and out of the race. Jackson Richardson also had his troubles in the final, after taking the heat race win, he would have to settle for fifth behind teammates Wilson Todd and Wade Hunter. For Faith, it’s back to the drawing board to find a way past Mellross and return to the top step of the podium.
Wade Hunter – MX2 P3
“I had a crash in my heat race and had a really bad gate pick, but I managed to get off to an awesome start, and my tyres hooked up right out of the gate. I pretty much had the holeshot but hit a soft spot and dropped back to third before having a few scary moments before settling. I just tried to keep my gap and get it done.”
SX2 Final
- Hayden MELLROSS
- Gavin FAITH +11.683
- Wade HUNTER +16.917
- Wilson TODD +21.643
- Jackson RICHARDSON +30.852
- Dylan WILLS +35.159
- Kyle WEBSTER +38.872
- Tomas RAVENHORST +41.245
- Joshua CACHIA +42.085
- Joel WIGHTMAN +45.478
- Jordan HILL +47.770
- Aaron TANTI +49.097
- Nathan CRAWFORD +1 lap
- Connor TIERNEY +1 lap
- Mitchell NORRIS +2 laps
- James BROWN +2 laps
- Luke CLOUT +2 laps
DNF Kale MAKEHAM
DNF Jesse MADDEN
DNF Geran STAPLETON
SX2 Points
- Hayden MELLROSS 69 Points
- Jackson RICHARDSON 59 Points
- Wade HUNTER 58 Points
- Gavin FAITH 47 Points
- Joel WIGHTMAN 38 Points
- Geran STAPLETON 36 Points
- Dylan WILLS 35 Points
- Jordan HILL 34 Points
- Wilson TODD 31 Points
- Tomas RAVENHORST 28 Points
- Josh Cachia 27 Points
- Aaron Tanti 26 Points
- Lewis Woods 24 Points
- Kyle Webster 23 Points
- Nathan Crawford 23 Points
