Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team’s current MXD Monster Energy MX Nationals leader Egan Mastin has his sights firmly set on maintaining the red plate when the series resumes this Sunday at Conondale despite a bruising MX2 wildcard at Swan Hill.

Mastin has overcome injuries sustained in moto one at Swan Hill to bounce back in time for Conondale, entering the weekend with a slender single-point advantage – just eight points separating the top four in the standings.

Team manager Craig Anderson believes Mastin will be back to form this weekend after his Swan Hill MX2 crash sidelined him prematurely, in what he believes is the highest quality MXD field the MX Nationals has ever featured.

“Egan’s recovered from Swan Hill where he hit his head and hurt his shoulder and ribs,” Anderson explained. “He’s been doing a lot of riding with [Brock] Winston and says he’s feeling good. I think how well the MXD boys did at Swan Hill has given him a lot of confidence and I think this year’s is the fastest the MXD crop ever.”

Mastin will focus on race results at this point rather than his title chances, learning all he can from current MX2 national number three and current Husqvarna MX1 teammate Winston.

“I’m not going to think about points at the moment,” Mastin explained. “I’m just going to go out there, race my race and try and go as well as I can every race. I’m still up here with Brock and still concentrating on my fitness and been training pretty hard.

“He always helps me out and pushes me along. He’s a fair bit fitter than me so I’m always pushing myself to try and keep up. It definitely helps with my fitness, plus the weather’s much better here than down home!”

The MXD class skipped the Wanneroo and Swan Hill rounds of the series, now back on the schedule for the final four rounds of 2014.