Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

DPH Motorsport’s Hayden Mellross is pleased with his second place finish in the SX2 category at Jimboomba’s opening round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship, marking his first race on Australian soil since 2014.

Mellross has spent the greater portion of the past two years racing the prestigious Monster Energy Supercross and Pro Motocross championships in the United States of America.

Despite qualifying outside of the top five, the 21-year-old went onto to claim a heat race win and finish runner-up in the main event behind American Gavin Faith.

“I’m pretty happy with my result tonight,” Mellross told MotoOnline.com.au. “Coming into this round I didn’t really put too much pressure on myself. I felt great and my body feels great – my speed and fitness is there. I knew I had the materials to go out there and get the job done.”

The New South Welshman admits he will need to be more aggressive against the Honda rider in order to be rewarded with a win, however challenging track conditions on Saturday night forced him to settle into position.

“Gavin (Faith) is a really good rider, and a fast rider. I noticed he didn’t make too many mistakes even though I was behind him for the whole 15 laps. I felt like I put a decent amount of pressure on him in different parts of the race and he didn’t make any mistakes,” he continued.

“I think I’m going to have to force a pass, I definitely have the speed to do it, but this track was just a little tricky for me tonight – every time I would push to make a pass or gain some time on him, I would make a mistake and lose another four or five bike lengths.”

Mellross was drafted into the DPH Motorsport squad at the 11th hour, with an announcement only being revealed one week prior to Jimboomba’s season opener.