Fifth place overall at round five of the 2010 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals saw defending dual champion Jay Marmont extend his lead in the Pro Open title chase at Raymond Terrace in New South Wales last weekend.

CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha’s Marmont opened his account with a frustrating seventh place in the first of three 20-minute motos for the round, before gaining strength with a sixth in the second moto in rough conditions after rain lashed the circuit in the lead-up to the event.

Moto three saw Marmont back to his usual self at the front of the pack, finishing second behind eventual round winner and current British Motocross Champion Brad Anderson, who was making a one-off appearance in the series.

“It was the same old story for me this year I guess, just a rollercoaster where I seem to have one good ride on the day but can’t put a whole day together,” the 27-year-old from Wollongong in NSW commented.

“We did some testing during the week and thought we came up with a good setting for the mud, but it didn’t really turn out that way on race day. We went back to my original settings for the last race and it felt a lot better, so I ended up doing well in that race with a good result behind Anderson.”

Following his fifth place finish overall for the round, Marmont stretched his series lead from four to 13 points ahead of Tye Simmonds, currently second in the point standings.

“I’ve still got the overall lead in the championship after the weekend, but it did allow guys like Billy Mackenzie and Dean Ferris to catch me a little bit in the series,” Marmont continued. “I’m happy to come away with the series lead again, fit, healthy and ready to fight for a win at the next round.”

Despite his end result of maintaining the red plate to signify his championship leader status, Marmont is eager to score his first round win of the year at round six of the series in four weeks time on his factory-backed Yamaha YZ450F.

“I’m going to go into the next round at Albury with a different approach, try go back to basics and see how it works for us. I just want to be a lot more consistent during the day, try to get a top three finish in the first race and then I know that I will be able to bring it home strong in the remaining motos.”

The series will now take a month-long break before heading to the Albury Wodonga Motorcycle Club in Victoria on 27 June, giving Marmont the opportunity to refine his approach as the eight-round season enters its final stages.

“I’m going to take most of this week off with the break coming up, try not to think about bikes too much, plus the weather isn’t good at the moment where I’m from,” he explained. “After that we’ll head down to Melbourne and focus on sprinting for the first few motos, as well as work on my technique. I need to get that mongrel back into me and make sure I get it done in all three races in the final rounds.”

Be sure to follow Jay on Twitter @Marmont2 for the latest updates.

Teammate Cheyne Boyd had his best performance of the season with third overall after scoring 2-3-5 results for the round, putting himself back in sight of the championship as he sits just 27 points behind Marmont.

“I just believed that my efforts during the week would reward me on the weekends, and while it has been some time coming, it feels good to get up on the podium and back up to speed again,” the Victorian said.

“Today was a good result but I still think there is more left in me for the remaining rounds. I also want to thank the CDR Rockstar Yamaha team for their patience and energy in getting this result.”