GASGAS Racing Team’s Hayden Mellross has started his 2022 Australian Supercross Championship campaign with a gritty fourth-place result in the season-opener at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne.
Armed with the GASGAS MC 450F, Mellross charged to an impressive P3 result in his SX1 heat race, setting the tone for a promising night for the Victoria-based racer.
A great jump off the gate in the SX1 main event saw Mellross slide into the top five on the opening lap, before surrendering the spot several laps later. Refusing to give up, Mellross continued to keep his eyes forward, capitalising on mistakes late in the moto by two of his rivals to cross the finish line in a satisfying fourth position.
In the SX2 class, GASGAS Racing Team newcomer Noah Ferguson banked solid points in the four-round championship by finishing seventh at his first-ever supercross race.
Riding his GASGAS MC 250F, the young Queenslander finished 10th in his heat race after going down in the second corner of the short six-lap race.
Eager to put that behind him, Ferguson found himself in 13th on the opening laps, but steadily move his way forwards in the final. A crucial pass on the second-to-last lap saw him finish his first-ever supercross main event with a P7 result.
The second round of the Australian Supercross Championship will be held at Adelaide Showgrounds in South Australia next Saturday, 29 October.
Hayden Mellross: “Being the first round of supercross that we’ve raced in a few years, I had a lot of nerves early today, but I gradually got more comfortable and confident as the day progressed. I rode quite well in my heat race to finish third and I thought we were in for a good show in the main event. I didn’t get as good a start as I would’ve hoped and I tightened up early on. The track was deceptively slippery, but I was able to hang on and take advantage of the guys who made mistakes in front of me to finish fourth! It wasn’t a pretty fourth, but it was a good result and I’m happy to walk away healthy and get the first round under the belt.”
Noah Ferguson: “A seventh-place result isn’t quite what I was aiming for, but I’m happy to walk away from my first-ever supercross with that result. It was exciting and a lot happening, but it was really well done and the crowd was amazing. I was pretty nervous throughout the day as I’ve never ridden anything this big, plus I’d never raced supercross before! P5 was my goal, but I’m happy with seventh, and will look to improve next weekend at Adelaide.”
2022 Australian Supercross Championship - Round one, Melbourne