Image: Foremost Media.

A serious finger injury sustained in the Newcastle round of the 2022 Fox Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) has ended the season of Hayden Mellross prematurely, undergoing an operation this week.

SX1 challenger Mellross has been positioned fourth in the standings entering round three on Saturday, until his season-ending injuries happened in the first of three Triple Crown finals at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Mellross has been cleared on any fractures in his ankle, but may undergo further scans to determine the extent of any other potential damage. It is his left ring finger, however, that was most badly inured and he underwent surgery yesterday afternoon.

“I made a decision in the second lane, as the rider in front of me kind of came left, instead of going step-over, I just decided to go double-double through the rest of the section, but obviously the rider behind me jumped and that resulted in him landing on me,” he reflected. “It was unfortunate, poor decision-making on the person behind me, but we are all making decisions at the split-second, so it’s tough.”

It was a tough break for the GasGas Racing Team rider, who is considered a specialist of sorts in supercross at this point of his career, and he was reaching top form on Saturday prior to the injury. He had qualified fourth and finished a promising P2 in his heat race before crashing out of the opening encounter.