Continuing to recover from an Anaheim 2 hand injury, Australia’s Hayden Mellross will again watch from the sidelines this weekend as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship heads to Oakland in California for round five of the 2017 series.

Sustaining the injury during a main event first turn pile-up at round three, the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha rider will now miss his second consecutive event after opting out of last weekend’s Phoenix round.

Confirming the recovery process is on track and the injury is healing well, Mellross admits a lack in grip strength is the determining factor in his decision to miss this weekend’s round and focus on a Dallas return on 11 February.

“My injury is going well and healing up nicely,” Mellross told MotoOnline.com.au. “I have spent a little longer off the bike than I would have liked, but I just have been struggling with my grip strength since the crash.

“I’m unfortunately going to be sitting out this weekend at Oakland, but I’ll be back and ready to go for Dallas for the following weekend.”

With teammate Tyler Bowers also out of action due to a broken femur sustained during practice in Phoenix, the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha team will field a single-rider squad for this weekend’s event, drafting in Husqvarna-mounted privateer, Noah McConahy, to pilot the YZ250F.