Page 58 - Issue_72

HAYDEN MELLROSS
250 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / PEPPERD DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Hayden Mellross, a 51Fifty Energy Drink Yamaha rider, nishes tenth overall in Seattle. The muddy and rough track at Seattle will de nitely be a race to remember. It rained all day before the night show started and the track was almost entirely mud. Multiple bikes were buried to the point that the rider needed track of cials help before they could get back on the track. Another danger of getting the bikes stuck in the mud was the risk of the clutches burn- ing up. Not only was this race hard on the riders, the mechanics also had extra work too. One of the main concepts racers had to accept was to stay calm and focused, despite slippery handlebars and poor visibility. According to Juliana Daniell, Monster Energy Supercross has not seen muddy track conditions like last weekend’s in over ten years. It was similar to the condition of the the track awhile ago at Daytona Supercross in 2008. Despite these obstacles, the 51Fif- ty Energy Drink Yamaha rider, was able to persevere and come out of the night with a strong nish in the top ten. In the opening of 250 heat two, Mellross
was in eighteenth and worked his way through the other racers and the sloppy mud to eighth. It was dif cult to make passes in this race because of poor line options and getting roosted, causing poor visibility resulting in riders having to remove goggles. This is Hayden’s third year riding for the 51Fifty team, where him and his teammate, Kyle Chisholm, can usually be found near the bottom of the top ten. In the holeshot, Hayden comes out fourteenth and quickly looks for passes and opportunities to work his way to the front of the pack. Passing Josh Mosiman and Justin Starling, Hayden makes his way into the tenth position. Within the last laps of the race, Hayden battled and passed defending 250SX West Coast Champion Justin Hill in tenth. However in the last minute, Hill passed Mellross securing both of their nal placements in ninth and tenth.
58 GRITMOTO • APRIL 8, 2018