​51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha - SX Report

51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha - SX Report

A Bad Gate Pick

Livingston, CA. (April 5, 2016) - For the 51FIFTY Energy Team, the Santa Clara Supercross 250 Main will be remembered as 'Gate-Gate'; the night the #72 of Hayden Mellross flew over the track and directly onto a metal gate. It was a night of Bad Gate Picks for Hayden that featured success and also bitter disappointment.

The night began with a crash in the Heat Race for Hayden in which his bike was destroyed by the impact of other riders landing on his downed YZ250F. The 51FIFTY crew worked in unison to rebuild the YZ250F, no small task given the lack of time between the Heat and LCQ. After replacing a bent subframe, broken seat, radiators, and bars, Mellross made it to the line with seconds to spare, and the last gate pick.

From the last spot on the gate, he was in 2nd until the Red Flag stopped the race and would have to repeat his start.  On the restart, Hayden ripped a huge holeshot and began clicking off his fastest laps of the day. Hayden looked comfortable up front and rode untouched to the finish line. This marked the first career LCQ win for the young Australian rookie and continued his streak of making every Main Event alive.

With another bad gate pick in the Main, Hayden once again executed an incredible start. From the far outside, he was quickly up to 5th heading into a rhythm section. A small kicker on one of the jump faces bumped his rear end up and sent him into a long nose wheelie straight for the corner. He held on as long as possible, but was ejected off the bike and over the tuff blocks onto a metal gate.

The man with Abs of Steel was able to walk away from one of the scariest crashes of the season. After a visit to the Asterisk medical truck and then the hospital, Hayden, fortunately, was cleared of any serious injury.

"Thanks to everyone for the effort tonight. Sorry for the end result guys," texted Mellross to the Team in the wee hours of the night and followed by the understatement of the year. "I'm a little sore but will be fine".

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.