The largest action sports competition in the Southern Hemisphere, the AUS-X Open, has concluded for 2016, and Australian hero Chad Reed lit the candles on both nights as he took the double race wins.
Reed bested four-time world supercross champion Ryan Villopoto, 2016 Australian Supercross Champ Justin Brayton, American sensation Cooper Webb, and the best Australia has to offer across the entire weekend.
The 34-year-old from Kurri Kurri, NSW, was supreme to the entire field at the 2016 AUS-X Open, topping almost every session en route to a dominant weekend.
“It feels awesome to win the two nights here at the AUS-X Open,” commented Reed. “I felt good all weekend, and having the crowd on my side as much as they were was absolutely awesome.
“I love this event, and I’m all for coming down to Australia – so hopefully we can get back here next year.”
Villopoto, almost grabbed a podium for tonight’s racing, however was inched out by Justin Brayton, and subsequently was relegated to fourth.
The championship for the SX2 Class was on the line for tonight’s main event, with Hayden Mellross entering the round six points ahead of Jackson Richardson.
Off the start, it was America’s Gavin Faith who pulled the holeshot, with Mellross giving chase in second position. Title rival Richardson, was buried in the field off the start, and had an immense amount of work to do if he were to win the 2016 title.
By lap 13 (out of 15), it was Faith comfortably out front, with Mellross even more comfortable in position two as he had almost a half a lap lead on Richardson.
That’s when disaster struck.
On lap 13, Mellross looked down at his motorcycle over the finish line jump, and once again over the following triple. He would then double his way through the small rhythm lane, before dumping his bike on the ground at the entrance to the tunnel.
The bike malfunction (and subsequent DNF) was enough to give Richardson the 2016 SX2 championship.
The AUS vs. USA feature race ended with Australia as the victor once again, as Reed and Brayton were the final two remaining in the elimination style format.
Brayton took the early lead – with Reed giving chase right from the get go. The two went back and forth for almost the entire lap as the crowd went wild, and they were sent into utter pandemonium when their home town boy (Reed) crossed the finish line first for team Australia.
Reed then grabbed an Australian flag and paraded around the stadium for the screaming AUS-X Open fans.
In the FMX ‘Best Trick’ contest, it was Tom Pagès reigning supreme and grabbing $20,000 worth of prize money, with Clinton Moore in second ($15,000) and Levi Sherwood in third (10,000).
Results ( more AUS-X Open results here)
SX1
1 – Chad Reed
2 – Cooper Webb
3 – Justin Brayton
4 – Ryan Villopoto
5 – Dean Ferris
6 – Kyle Peters
7 – Wil Hahn
8 – Daniel Reardon
9 – Chris Alldredge
10 – Adam Enticknap
11 – Jesse Dobson
12 – Jay Marmont
SX2
1 – Gavin Faith
2 – Jackson Richardson
3 – Kyle Webster
4 – Josh Cachia
5 – Jordan Hill
6 – Joel Wightman
7 – Geran Stapleton
8 – Wilson Todd
9 – Tomas Ravenhorst
10 – Keiron Hall
11 – Ford Dale
12 – Hayden Mellross
FMX BEST TRICK
1 – Tom Pagès
2 – Clinton Moore
3 – Levi Sherwood
