Supercross

Jackson Richardson claims 2016 Australian SX2 Championship At Aus-X Open Final Night

Reed and Faith make it back to back Aus-X Open Wins

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Sunday, November 13th, 2016

8:59 AM

On another crazy night of racing action, Serco Yamaha's Jackson Richardson has won the 2016 Australian Supercross SX2 Championship after a devastating bike break down for Hayden Mellross on the final night of racing at this years Aus-X Open.

In the nights SX1 main event it was Villopoto who grabbed the early lead to the crowds delight as Reed exited the first turn in second place after dropping Brayton.

Villopto lead for the opening few laps before Reed used the Shannons short cut to move into first place and was never headed.

In SX two racing, Gavin Faith lead from wire to wire and it looked as though Mellross was in position to cruise to the championship win sitting in second place while Richardson was buried deep in the field.

While Richardson moved his way to third position, with just two laps remaining Mellross was closing in on race leader Faith and had a comfortable one third of lap lead over Richardson when his bike come to a stop entering the tunnel section of the track, handing Richardson second position and the title.

Faiths win also elevated him above Mellross in the Championship standings, giving him second in the title chase with Mellross relegated to third.

For a full blow by blow account from the second day of the Aus-X Open read below.

SX1 Main Event:

Ryan Villopoto grabbed the holeshot from Chad Reed as Reed ran wide dropped the elbow and dropped Brayton.

Dan Reardon another rider to go down crashing over the berm after the finish line double.

Ryan Villopoto lead the opening two laps from Reed with Cooper Webb in third, Followed by Ferris while Brayton was left to work his way back through the field on a dry dusty track.

At the start of lap four Reed took advantage of the Shannons Short cut to have a move up the inside of Villopoto and take the race lead to the crowds delight.

At lap four Reed lead from Webb who moved in front of Villopoto, Ferris was in fourth from Peters, Alldredge, Brayton, Marmont, Hahn, Reardon Enticknap and Dobson.

On lap eight Saturday nights hero Jay Marmont crashed in the whoops and put himself out of the running for another fairy tale result.

At the half way mark Reed continued to lead, though Webb was starting to close in and still had the use of the short cut lane.

Villopoto remained in third with Ferris fourth.

Webb continued to edge in on Reed on lap 12 cutting the gap to under two seconds.

Enticknap used the short cut to let Webb lap him.

Dobson‰Ûªs race came to an early end on lap 15 crashing at the end of the whoops before pulling out of the race.

On lap 17 Brayton moved all the way back in to 4th passing Ferris and then went after Villopoto for third.

Using the Quad into the tunnel Brayton quickly closed in on Villopoto and made the move into third with two laps to run.

On the final lap Webb used the short cut to no avail, with Reed going on to make it two for two wins at the 2016 Aus-X Open. Webb finished in second with Brayton rounding out the podium after an amazing ride through the field.

Villopoto finished 4th with Ferris rounding out the top five.

SX2 Main Event:

As the SX2 riders lined up on the gate for their main event all the attention was on Championship leader Hayden Mellross and Jackson Richardson who sat six points behind him in the standings.

The only other rider with a mathematical chance at the win was last nights winner Gavin Faith but would pretty much need a DNF from Mellross and Richardson to be in with a chance.

When the gates dropped it was Mellross and Faith who left turn one side by side with Faith taking the lead into the tunnel.

Cachia sat in third position ahead of Ford Dale while Richardson was buried at the rear of the field.

At the start of lap three Richardson made a move on Jordan Hill for 7th with Ravenhorst the next on his list.

By lap five Faith was clear out front with Mellross in a safe second place the length of the whoops of third placed Cachia with Dale still in fourth as Richardson moved into sixth.

Richardson then quickly made the move past Dale for fourth and set out after Cachia, while Mellross started to reel in Faith up front.

At the half way mark Faith lead by 2 seconds from Mellross with Faith electing to take the Shannons short cut and extend his lead.

On the same lap Richardson moved into third passing Cachia in the whoops.

At the start of lap 11 with the short cut up his sleeve Mellross moved to with in a second of Faith.

Richardson remains a third of a lap behind in third position while Cachia came under pressure from Webster for fourth.

A mistake from Mellross on lap 13 allowed Faith to open back up a comfortable lead.

Then moment later Mellross bike stopped heading into the tunnel, handing second place and the championship to Jackson Richardson.

Faith finished the final lap in the lead to take the win, with Richardson crossing the line in second spot and not realising he had won the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship. With a DNF from Mellross and a win for Faith, Faith secured second in the championship with Mellross relegated to third.

Moments later he realised and celebrated his championship success.

Kyle Webster rouned out the podium in third.

Following the podium presentation a dejected Mellross returned to the stadium to congratulate Richardson on this championship success with the two riders embracing. Hopefully there is a photo of this moment of sportsmanship!

For Full Championship Results CLICK HERE

SX1 Semi 1:

Wil Hahn who earlier today announced his retirement from full time racing grabbed the holeshot from Jay Marmont

Dobson slotted into 3rd with Cheyne Boyd close in tow in fourth.

At the half way mark there were no changes Hahn continuing to lead from Marmont and Dobson.

Behind them Todd Waters moved up on Boyd for fourth.

Heading into the final lap, Dobson made a small mistake in the whoops allowing Boyd to close in.

Hahn went on to take the win from Marmot while Dobson held on for third and a direct passage to the main event.

SX1 Semi 2:

Kyle Peters grabbed the holeshot while Dean Ferris snuck up the inside to move into second ahead of Adam Enticknap.

At the end of the Whoops on lap one both Reardon and Mosig went down together.

Chris Alldredge moved his way into third passing THE 7 Deuce Deuce. (Adam Enticknap) then closed in on Ferris for second.

Dan Reardon and Mosig both got up from their earlier crash with Mosig continuing on while Reardon pulled out of the race.

When the chequered flew it was Peters from Ferris and Alldredge with all three going through to the main while the rest of the field were headed to the LCQ

SX1 Superpole:

Hahn lays down a 32.008 to kick things off.

Kyle Peters goes faster with a 31.886

Justin Brayton lights up the crowd with a 30.568, the fastest lap of the weekend by jumping a three-four combo in the rhythm section the only rider to do it so far.

Ryan Villopoto follows in Baryton‰Ûªs foot steps hitting the quad into the tunnel to post a 30.647 and going second fastest.

Cooper Webb was next up posting a 31.320 to move into third with just Chad Reed left to run.

31.171 for Reed leaves him in third with Brayton holding down top spot for the second straight night.

SX1 LCQ:

Daniel Reardonlaunches out to the lead through turn one along with Adam Enticknap.

Jay Wilson was third from Todd Waters and Kade Mosig.

Waters went to work looking for a way past Jay Wilson while the lead two riders broke clear.

In the end Reardon and Enticknap finished 1-2 and headed to the main event.

The night was over for Jay Wilson, Waters, Mosig, Boyd, Luke Wilson and James Allen.

SX2 Semi 1:

Josh Cachia scored the holeshot from Kyle Webster ad the remainder of the field got hung up.

By the end of lap two Cachia had a handy lead from Webster with Blake Lilly and Tomas Ravenhorst left to battle over the final transfer spot with the top three going through to the main.

Ravenhorst set a move on Lilly heading into the first turn of lap four and made it stick moving himself into third.

Webster closed on to Cachia‰Ûªs rear wheel heading in to the final lap, but being in a direct qualifying position settled into second with the duo going through to the main along with Ravenhorst who finished third.

Lilly, Wilson Todd, Hoeft , Madden and Makeham all head to the LCQ

SX2 Semi 2:

Ford Dale got a great jump out of the gate but it was Yamalube Yamaha‰Ûªs Jordan Hill with the holeshot as they exited turn one.

Dale settled into second position with Geran Stapleton in third.

Behind them Nathan Crawford sat in fourth with Tanti and Hall also in the fight.

Despite carrying some big shoulder injuries Stapleton closed in on Dale through the whoops at the end of lap three to set up a pass as they headed into lap four, leaving Crawford to battle Dale for the final qualifying spot.

On lap five Crawford got loose through the whoops going over the bars and body slammed the padded wall.

Over the line Hill took the win from Stapleton with Dale just holding off Tanti for third.

SX2 LCQ:

Kieron Hall pulled the holeshot but bobbled out of the first turn with Wilson Todd taking the lead.

At the end of lap one Todd and Hall had gapped the field and looked good to take the remaining two spots in the nights main.

Nathan Crawford was able to line back up after his heat crash and sat in third spot.

In the short four lap race Todd held on for the win with Hall joining him in the main event.

SX1 Heat 1:

Chad Reed nabs the opening SX1 Holeshot to lead Ryan Villopoto through the first lap.

Jay Marmont crossed the line at the end of lap one in third with Jesse Dobson on his rear wheel

Back up front Villopoto started to real in Reed for the lead.

On lap four Dobson slid out of fourth place and into the wall on the entrance to the tune but was able to get up and re-join the race in last position.

At the finish it was Reed taking the win by 1.1 seconds ahead of Villopoto putting both riders straight through to the nights main event.

Marmont finished 3rd with Waters fourth.

Also a solid rider by James Allen who did not qualify last night, but has made the show today and finished his heat on the lead lap.

SX1 Heat 2:

Cooper Webb rocketed out of the gate to pull a clear holeshot while Dean Ferris went down in the first turn.

Kade Mosig also crashed on the opening lap in the middle of the sand tunnel.

Out front Webb lead from Kyle Peters, Chris Alldredge and Justin Brayton in an all American affair.

At the end of lap four Brayton moved by Alldredge for 3rd and took off after Peters for the final qualifying spot.

Clearly quicker Brayton moved onto the rear wheel of Peters by the end of lap five.

Luke Wilson crashed on lap five and then pulled out of the race.

Heading into the final lap Brayton still had not made the move past Peters despite numerous attempts.

Brayton lined up one final challenge after the triple on the final lap, cut under Peters and forced his way through leaving Peters on the ground laying in the tough blocks.

Out front Webb went on to take the win, with Brayton taking the second qualifying spot directly into the main.

SX1 Heats

SX2 Heat 1:

Holeshot Wightman, Cachia, Faith, Wightman early lead.

Cachia into second only to be passed by team mate Faith at the end of whoops on lap one.

Top four riders were Honda‰Ûªs with Wightman leading Faith, Cachia and Webster.

on lap four Faith moved into the lead after setting up Wightman three corners before making the pass.

At the flag it is Faith and Wightman 1-2 and progressing to the main, Webster third after a mistake by Cachia but he will join the rest of the field in the Semi‰Ûªs

SX2 Heat 2:

German Stapleton just steals the holeshot from Hayden Mellross, but Mellross able to take the lead heading into the tunnel

Nathan Crawford moves in to second as a battle broke out between himself Aaron Tanti and Stapleton.

All three get together in the turn after the triple with Stapleton and Tanti going down.

Mellross opened up a big lead, while his championship rival Jackson Richardson moved up on to the back wheel of Crawford and after spending a lap behind him made the move into second position and a direct main event qualifying spot.

Callum Norton after missing qualifying yesterday moved Crawford out the way to move into third and Yamalube Yamaha‰Ûªs Jordan Hill looked to make a similar move into 4th.

At the line Mellross scored a comfortable win from Richardson sending the two championship contenders straight into the nights main event.

Norton was impressive finishing third but will head the Semi final.

SX1 Seeded:

After sealing the 2016 Australian Supercross Champion last night with his second place main event finish, Justin Brayton kicked off today in fine fashion posting the fastest time in timed qualifying.

Second fastest was last nights main event winner Chad Reed, while Cooper Webb was third Fastest.

Daniel Reardon was 4th fastest but finished 5th overall with Dobson‰Ûªs time from Unseeded qualifying holding strong for 4th overall while Boyd‰Ûªs time from the same session put him 6th fastest overall.

Last nights fan hero, Jay Marmont who finished third in the main event, qualified down in 14th position, two positions behind Ryan Villopoto.

SX1 Unseeded:

KTM Australia‰Ûªs Jesse Dobson was the fastest rider in unseeded SX1 qualifying with a lap time of 31.539 seconds.

Cheyne Boyd was once again impressive with the second fastest time in a tight session, with Todd Waters third fastest.

Lawson Bopping crashed early in the session before then putting in a lap to move up to 4th.

However as the session was flagged Bopping crashed on the triple, we only caught the end of it, but Bopping himself finished up between the take off ramp and the second jump, while he bike launched over the triple.

Though in visible pain and in the hands of racesafe, Bopping was able to help assist himself with the help of Racesafe onto a stretcher.

We will get an update as soon as possible.

We checked in with Boppings DPH Motosport race team and while he took a big hit, he was about to head back up to the team truck and is ok, though not sure if he will line up to race.

SX2 Seeded:

DPH Motosports topped the timesheet in the SX2 seeded session throwing down a lap time of 31.419 seconds as the championship leader got the day off to a great start.

Yesterday‰Ûªs fastest qualifier Gavin Faith was second fastest, just over .2 of a second behind Mellross while Richardson who is second in the points standings, just six points down was third Fastest.

Kyle Webster once again qualified well in fourth, while BBR Yamaha‰Ûªs Aaron Tanti backed up his fine sixth place in last nights main event with the 5th fastest qualifying time this morning.

SX2 Unseeded Qualifying:

A straight forward session today in Unseeded SX2 qualifying, with Ford Dale topping the time sheets with a 32.779 seconds.

Kale Makeham and Josh Cachia were second and third fastest.

Husqvarna young gun Callun Norton improved and will make today‰Ûªs racing‰Ûªs main show, though did have a decent get off in the whoops at the end of the session.

He was able to get up and ride off the track.

In other news Dylan Wills will not be racing tonight after his crash at the end of last nights main event.