Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Jackson Richardson has landed in second place at round two of the Australian Supercross Championship on board his Serco Yamaha YZ250F in the SX2 division.

Richardson was in good form all day and showing no signs of a lingering shoulder injury that had him sidelined in the lead up to the opening round a few weeks ago.

He qualified in fourth place on the hard pack and jump laden track before gaining more confidence after a heat race win.

When the gates dropped for the 15 lap SX2 final, Richardson was instantly in the top three and making his presence felt. He was in a fast-moving freight train that included race leader Hayden Mellross and US import, Gavin Faith. Just past the midway point of the race, Mellross fell heavily after colliding with a rogue track marker that had been bumped onto the racing line.

With Mellross down, Faith took control of the race and Richardson in tow. Richardson closed to within five seconds by race end in a gallant effort to chase down the American but was never able to pressure him for position.

“It was a better weekend for me and certainly some improvements since round one. I feel stronger on the bike and my fitness is starting to get back to where it needs to be.

“I got a little lucky with second as Hayden went down but it was that kind of track where you had to stay focused as it was slippery and a long race.

“Thank you to the Serco Yamaha team for their support again tonight and hopefully a race win isn’t far away,” Richardson states.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well for Mitch Evans. Evans entered round two confident of a good performance after taking third at the opening round but his night ended moments after the start of the SX2 final.

Evans came together with another rider just metres out of the gate, causing an issue with his front wheel. He limped around for the opening lap before returning into the mechanics area to have it looked at. After a quick inspection, he rode back onto the track but when the front wheel locked on in the air, Evans felt it was dangerous and returned back to the pits and called it a night.

“I don’t really know what happened,” Evans recalls. “I jumped from the gate and Hayden and I hit and suddenly the bike felt weird, like a huge buckle or vibration through the front wheel. I got around the opening lap and got back into the mechanics area so the guys could take a look at it but there was nothing obvious so I went back out again to test it out.

“Then, on one of the bigger jumps, the front wheel stopped spinning in the air and that was pretty scary so I came back in as I didn’t want to risk injury or more damage. It was a frustrating night as I was well placed after round one and myself and the team had made some real progress with the bike.

“Adelaide is next and I’m sure the guys will be all over the issue and we can get back to racing well and chasing some race wins,” Evans concluded.

Adelaide hosts round three of the championship with Jackson Richardson now sitting in second place and Evans just inside the top 10 despite a DNF on the weekend.

For a full list of results: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1471542