Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/745221
IN THE WIND P42 CHAMPION RE-SIGNS R ecently, the Barn Pros/ Home Depot Yamaha team announced the acquisition of former Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Team rider and AMA Horizon Award win- ner Chris Alldredge; now, the team says it has re-signed Scott Champion, who will remain with the squad through the 2017 supercross season. "I am very excited to be back with the Barn Pros/Home Depot Yamaha team for 2017," Cham- pion said in a team statement. "I enjoy working with the team and look forward to seeing the results with the added amount of support we will have in 2017." In his first year with the team, Champion finished 17th in the 2016 250SX West series, which included a season-high 12th at San Diego 2. Team manager Scot Steffy praised Champion for his tough- ness while riding with a broke tailbone last year. "We are excited to have Scott back this year. He showed a lot of heart racing the start of the series with a broken tailbone last year and still putting in solid rides each and every weekend. We are looking for Scott to be one of the top-10 riders this year. With all the additional support of Rick Johnson, and our new mo- tor built by Dasa/Bills Pipes, we feel this will give him the tools to get the job done." Johnson said, "I'm looking forward to working with Scott Champion in 2017. I worked with him for a short time when he was racing minis. It's time for part two of our journey." CN BRAYTON UNDEFEATED DOWN UNDER J ustin Brayton is on a roll in the Australian Supercross Champi- onship after taking the third win in as many races in the 2016 season. Brayton, aboard an HGA Honda Racing-backed CRF has extended his lead in the championship after winning the South Australia round of the series at the Wayville Showgrounds. Hayden Mellross also made gains in the SX2 class with a win. It wasn't a total cakewalk for Bray- ton, however. He ran into trouble in his heat race with a pair of crashes, but still went on to qualify. Mellross and Faith duked it out in their heat race, but when it came time for the main event, Mellross was not to be denied. He quickly charged to the front of the pack, and although Faith attempted to give chase, Mellross was simply flawless as he stretched out his lead in the main, eventually riding to an 11-second victory for his first victory of the season. Faith finished second in front of Wade Hunter, Wilson Todd and Jackson Richard- son. Mellross now holds the points lead over Richardson. Brayton made the SX1 main event look easy, leading the way from start to finish in a likewise flawless race. He rode to vic- tory ahead of CDR Yamaha's Dan Reardon and KTM Australia's Kyle Peters for third. American rider Wil Hahn, aboard an NPE Monster Energy Kawasaki, got out to a bad start and had to fight his way through the pack, but he made it up to fourth place be- fore the checkered flag, just ahead of Jay Marmont. Brayton made his night a little sweeter by taking the Dash For Cash win, as well, edging out Law- son Bopping for the bonus cash. Brayton is now undefeated in the championship at the halfway point, with 18 points over Dean Ferris while Hahn is only one point back in third. CN SX1 Final: 1. Justin Brayton 2. Dan Reardon 3. Kyle Peters 4. Wil Hahn 5. Jay Marmont SX2 Final: 1. Hayden Mellross 2. Gavin Faith 3. Wade Hunter 4. Wilson Todd 5. Jackson Richardson