Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Jackson Richardson raced his Serco Yamaha YZ250F into second place on a wild and windy night at round four of the Australian Supercross Championship, held at the Avalon Speedway, on Saturday Night.

Competing in the SX2 class (250cc), Richardson made it three podiums out of the four rounds contested so far and has now closed the gap to just eight points separating him from the championship lead with two rounds remaining.

Richardson had an eventful afternoon after falling in his qualifying race, he was unable to get back to a top eight spot and was forced into the last chance qualifier. It was there he passed through to the 15 lap main event but with a lowly qualifying position, getting a good start in the final was going to be tough.

But when the gates fell in the 20 rider final, Richardson powered his YZ250F into the first turn inside the top four and instantly began eyeing off the top spot. He slotted in behind US rider, Gavin Faith, for second position and the race was on for the win. But try as he might, Richardson could never get close enough to challenge Faith and had to take second place, just two seconds from the race win.

Championship leader, Hayden Mellross took third and allowed Richardson to get two points closer in the championship chase.

“Considering how the heat went and the dry and slippery track, taking second tonight wasn’t too bad,” Richardson said. “I knew I had to get a great jump from the start because I was so far wide, but I was able to do that and put myself in a good position in the early stages.

“Congratulations to Gavin tonight. He never really made a mistake and deserved his win but this sets up a pretty good finish at the final rounds with the three of us not that far apart in the points and anything can happen at an indoor event,” Jackson ends.

Wilson Todd put together another top performance to take fifth place on the night and move himself up the ladder in the championship. Todd was inside the top 10 from the opening lap and made some quick passes to get into the fifth position but the leaders were well gone by the time he had clear track so Todd wisely settled for a lonely fifth place.

“Another good night and feeling like I’m making progress. There was no traction out there so you had to be patient and ride to the surface and the conditions.

“I’m now in seventh place and that’s not too bad considering I missed the opening round with a broken hand. Hopefully I can jump a few more spots after next weekend,” he ends.

The only downer of the night for Serco Yamaha came in the final when Wade Hunter went down in the opening moments after colliding with another rider and was unable to finish the race.

Hunter was in obvious pain as he laid track side and X-rays have since revealed he has broken three bones in his left foot and will miss the remainder of the championship.

“It’s a really disappointing way to end and the incident wasn’t my fault. In the first couple of turns, there were bikes going everywhere and someone jumped across on me and we collided in the air. As soon as I hit the ground I knew something was wrong as the pain was instant.

“I have had fun in the years’ championship and it’s been nice to turn my year around after a terrible motocross season,” Hunter said.

With the final double header this weekend at Qudos Arena in Sydney, Serco Yamaha will just have Jackson Richardson and Wilson Todd represent the Yamaha team.

For a full list of results: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/en/Events/1347009#_ga=1.94573855.2071296514.1456645382

To follow the Serco Yamaha team on social media: www.facebook.com/sercoyamaha or @sercoyamaha on Instagram