Livingston, CA. (February 9, 2016) - Hayden Mellross served as the sole racer rider for 51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha Team at round 5 of Supercross in Glendale, Arizona as teammate Zach Bell is out with a broken collarbone. The day was marked by highlights from the rookie Mellross while making his 5th straight Main.
The long and fast layout of the track fit Hayden's riding style as put in his best time and qualifying position of the year. It was a goal to improve the qualifying time to have a better gate pick and put himself in the best possible position for Heat #1.
Hayden would line up for heat, giving up about 25lbs to his rivals down the extended start straight. Even with a slight hesitation as the gate dropped, Hayden and his YZ250F powered past many of the factory-built machines into the first turn. Hayden came out of the first corner in 4th place and the battle was on. Mixing it up with the front runners was great for the rookies confidence and he crossed the line finishing an impressive 4th.
With a good gate pick for the main, quick reactions and the confidence to hold it wide open, Hayden rounded the first turn inside the top 5. Some serious bar banging took place during the opening laps which spread out the field. Hayden fought hard but, with a severe head cold, was unable to match his fastest lap times of the night and would slip back 11th position. He withstood the daunting track for the but on the last lap, while trying to pass and get inside the Top 10, he hit the deck in the treacherous whoop section. Once remounted, he crossed the line in 15th place.
"It was a great day from the qualifier to the Heat and was so close to my first-ever Top 10. I was pushing hard on that last lap and just got bit by that whoop section," said Mellross after the race. "I'm definitely happy with the day, my progression overall and am looking forward to San Diego."
51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha could not do it without the support of our great sponsors including Yamaha, Allied Packaging, Bolt, BDO, Carlos Vieira Racing, Costa Rica Unlimited, Cycra, Crank Works, Company West, CV4, Dunlop, DT1, Evans Cooling, FMF, Galfer, GET, GYTR, Hinson Clutch Components, HJC, Hot Cams, iBOOSTER, IMS Products, Magik Graphics, Matrix, Mechanix Wear, Motoseat, MotoXerciser, ODI, olloclip, O'Neal, Push Marketing Agency, Renegade Fuels, Ride Engineering, RK Excel, SDI, Sikk Shades, Supersprox, TM Designworks, Twisted Development, Works Connection, and Yamalube.
