News 5 Nov 2016

Racefeed: 2016 AUS Supercross Rd4 Melbourne

Post-race updates direct from throughout the fourth round.

Follow all the action direct from Avalon Raceway’s fourth round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship. MotoOnline.com.au will update this feature directly following each session as they happen throughout the round.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

SX1 practice one:
Unseeded practice was first out of the gates at Avalon Raceway, with minute-long laptimes making for one of the lengthiest layouts we’ve seen. Lawson Bopping topped the charts as suspected, while Cheyne Boyd’s comeback was positive in P2, ahead of American Chris Alldredge as he returns after a round sidelined. Jesse Dobson went down pretty hard, flying off a berm, but he got up and should be on track for qualifying this afternoon.

SX1 practice two:
Times dropped significantly when the seeded session went out and it was Dean Ferris who set the benchmark, a few tenths faster than red plate holder Brayton, while Hahn was the other lone rider within a second of the top time. It was a solid session for Jay Wilson, winding up sixth as the flag waved.

SX2 practice one:
Like the 450s before them, non-seeded guys were on first, resulting in Lewis Woods leading the way early ahead of Kale Makeham and Kyle Webster. We also see the return this weekend of Taylor Potter, who was in fourth at session’s end.

SX2 practice two:
Honda Genuine Racing’s latest recruit Luke Clout was fastest when the seeded SX2 session concluded, over a full second quicker than points leader Hayden Mellross, while Wade Hunter was three seconds off Clout in third. Notable results in the session included Josh Cachia in P4, Aaron Tanti fifth, with Gavin Faith ninth and Jackson Richardson down in P12.  They’ll be on pace when it counts later on.

SX1 qualifying one:
Times were lowered further once the qualifying sessions commenced, as Lawson Bopping topped the non-seeded session with a flying 1m00.757s ahead of Jesse Dobson by 0.263s, while Chris Alldredge and Cheyne Boyd were next best, but two seconds outside of the top time.

SX1 qualifying two:
Points leader Justin Brayton climbed to the top of the ladder in qualifying two of the SX1s with the fastest lap of the day at 1m00.106s, just 0.004s ahead of fellow American Wil Hahn, number one plate-holder Dan Reardon and his CDR Yamaha teammate Dean Ferris – the four of them separated by only 0.705s. There was yet another US import in Kyle Peters fifth, as Kade Mosig, Jay Wilson, Jay Marmont, Adam Enticknap and Luke Wilson filled the top 10. Ferris crashed hard late in the session, but did rise and appears to be okay at this stage.

SX2 qualifying one:
The first 250 qualifier just wrapped up and it was Kale Makeham who led the way at 1m02.566s, 1.2s quicker than Kyle Webster and a full two seconds ahead of Jesse Madden. From there it was relatively tight for position between Taylor Potter, Lewis Woods, Nathan Crawford and Connor Tierney in that order.

SX2 qualifying two:
The second session of SX2 qualifying saw the times drop further as former champion Gavin Faith placed his retro Penrite Honda on top at 1m01.011s, near half a second faster than practice pace-setter Luke Clout, who in turn was a full second faster than an impressive Dylan Wills. Wade Hunter was fourth, narrowly ahead of title-leader Hayden Mellross and Jackson Richardson moved up to sixth by the end of the afternoon proceedings.

SX2 heat one:
It was an action-packed opening heat race of the night as Kyle Webster held a charging Wade Hunter at bay for the victory. Hunter traded places with Gavin Faith multiple times in the fight for second while catching Webster, who took full advantage of an early incident on the opening lap involving Kale Makeham and Jackson Richardson. That held the field up somewhat, enabling Webster to get out front and carry it through to the win. Wilson Todd ended up fourth, followed by Jesse Madden, Thomas Ravenhorst, Taylor Potter, Connor Tierney, Richardson and Makeham.

SX2 heat two:
Another new winner emerged in heat two as Dylan Wills took a fairly comfortable 1.246s victory, ahead of fast-finishing red plate-holder Hayden Mellross, Aaron Tanti, Lewis Woods and Josh Cachia. Sixth was Luke Clout, in turn ahead of Joel Wightman, Jordan Hill, Nathan Crawford – who went down after tagging the back of Mellross in the first corner – and Jamie Harvey rounding out the top 10.

SX1 heat one:
Top qualifier Justin Brayton did exactly what he had to in the first of the SX1 heat races, winning by 4.718s over CDR teammates Dan Reardon and Dean Ferris, who rebounded nicely on his spare bike following a major fall in qualifying. In fourth was Kyle Peters, who was sitting behind Brayton until making a mistake in the closing laps, just ahead of Cheyne Boyd. Next came the Crankt Hondas of Jay Wilson and Chris Alldredge after he crashed at the end of the whoops early on. Boyd Hocking and Joel Newton rounded out the field.

SX1 heat two:
The strong form of Wil Hahn continued in second of the SX1 heats as he took a 1.9s win from former champion Jay Marmont, around eight-tenths ahead of Jesse Dobson. Fourth belonged to Kade Mosig, while in a lonely fifth it was American fan favourite Adam Enticknap. Lawson Bopping crossed the line sixth, well ahead of Chris Camilleri, Luke Wilson after he got the holeshot and then went down, and James Alen.

SX2 LCQ:
Serco Yamaha’s Jackson Richardson was the best of the SX2 LCQ to transfer through to the main, followed by Kale Makeham, Mitch Norris, Jamie Harvey, James Brown, Hugh McKay and Jake Cahir. It was bad news for Husqvarna’s Nathan Crawford however, going down in the final stages and attended to by RACESAFE – unofficially looked to be a shoulder injury of some description.

SX2 final:
It was a perfect result for Penrite Honda Racing’s Gavin Faith in the SX2 final, as the Australian oil brand celebrated its 90th anniversary with a special retro livery at Avalon tonight. The American took control from early leader Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha) in the first half of the race and was never headed, as Richardson was on the podium once again with the runner-up position. A late move from Hayden Mellross (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) past Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM) bumped him up to the podium and they’d go on to finish in that order, while rookie Wilson Todd (Serco Yamaha) had a fine ride to fifth. The sixth to 10th places were occupied by CRF Honda Racing teammates Joel Wightman and Kyle Webster, Aaron Tanti (BBR Yamaha), Jesse Madden (Raceline Pirelli KTM) and Taylor Potter (Honda) in his return to the series. Disaster struck early in the race for Luke Clout (Honda Genuine Racing) as he crashed out in the first turn, before Wade Hunter (Serco Yamaha) did likewise also on the opening lap.

SX1 final:
CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris led a 1-2 for the team at Avalon Raceway’s fourth round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship after defeating teammate Dan Reardon for victory in the 20-lap main event. It was defending champion Reardon who led the early stages, however Ferris worked his way to the front and eventually won by 3.984s over Reardon and top American Wil Hahn (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki). The result finally saw points leader Justin Brayton’s (Honda Genuine Racing) win-streak broken, as he finished in fourth despite going down in a first corner incident, and edged his way by fast-starting ex-champion Jay Marmont (MXR&D Husqvarna) in the final laps. Sixth was Jesse Dobson (KTM Motocross Racing Team) as he held Kade Mosig (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) at bay after he went down earlier, while Cheyne Boyd’s (Park4MX Yamaha) return resulted in eight – the final rider still on the lead lap. Ninth belonged to Lawson Bopping (DPH Motorsport Yamaha), while Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) got the better of US imports Adam Enticknap (Honda Genuine Racing) and Chris Alldredge (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) to round out the top 10. KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Kyle Peters was a non-finisher after going down in the back-half of the race.

Recent