Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki Factory Racing’s Luke Wilson has a renewed passion for racing as the Australian Supercross Championship approaches after taking an extended break that saw him exit the Motul MX Nationals at the halfway point.

The Queenslander, who’s evidently been a stronger supercross contender in recent years, will be joined by American Nick Schmidt in the series where the pair will debut the all-new and highly-anticipated 2018 RM-Z450.

“It was good to have a break, I was kind of getting a little bit over it,” Wilson explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “Having that break definitely brought back the hunger, and I enjoy supercross and always have. Taking the first half of year off has only made me miss it more, and coming back to something I love has made it pretty easy.

“My preparation has been good, I got on a bit earlier than most people did – I would’ve like to of been able to get on earlier, but as you know where on the ’18s, so we had to wait for them to turn up. As soon as I got on it, I did as much I could and everything is starting to feel pretty good.

“It’s a new feeling, I quite enjoy it – it’s a completely new bike and I think it suits my riding style a bit more the way it actually puts me on it. I’m really enjoying the bike and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The number 15 is eager to better his top 10 finish in the championship last year, and is adamant he can run closer to the top five in the 2017 edition.

“Last year I finished 10th,” he continued. “I definitely want to better that by a fair bit – I know I can. Everything is working well at the practice track, I can run the times of pretty much anyone that comes out, I just need to put it all together for 20 laps. I want to be up near the top five this year.”

The opening round of the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship is scheduled for this Saturday, 23 September, at Jimboomba in Queensland.