Despite a difficult opening round of the 2011 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals at Broadford, Victoria, on Sunday, the CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha team isn’t writing off its title prospects just yet.

The day started brightly both for the weather and the team as the duo of Jay Marmont and Josh Coppins qualified well and were feeling positive about getting the championship under way in strong style.

But in the minutes leading up to the four moto back-to-back Pro Open main event, the heavens opening and the track quickly turned from good to bad in a matter of minutes.

Reigning and three time MX Nationals champion Marmont eye balled his first challenge in the opening moments of race one.

The mud bath conditions had riders ditching the goggles to retain vision but Marmont was struck in the eye with a rock thrown up from a competitor’s rear wheel. With blurred vision and in considerable pain, Marmont did what Jay Marmont does and fought on to bravely rack up 6-8-15-8 finishes to land in ninth spot for the round.

“It wasn’t the best way to start a championship,” said a frustrated Marmont. “The track was wet and tough to ride and vision was a problem, but it was the same for everyone so there are no excuses.

“I took my goggles off as I had gone through all my tearoffs and couldn’t see a thing. But as soon as I got them off, a rock flicked up from in front of me and got my right in the eye. So for the next three races, I had some blurred vision and struggled to concentrate.”

“But, I need to put this behind me. I will get my eye checked out to make sure there is no damage there. Then at round two it’s time to start clawing back the points. We still have 32 motos to go and this is just a slight set back.”

Coppins didn’t exactly have a walk in the park either. While his 15 years in Europe comes in handy for the trying and wet conditions at Broadford, a fall in the opening race where the impact ripped his fuel cap from the bike is something he hadn’t come across before.

He was then able to swap onto the spare bike for the remaining motos and regrouped to finish the day with 12-3-6-13 results and sits seventh position at the end of the opening round.

“Living in Europe and New Zealand means I have raced in conditions like this more than a few times,” said the former world number two. “The conditions didn’t really bother me as I just continue to stick to my plan and get the job done.

“But the broken fuel cap is something that doesn’t happen often and the fuel spilling onto my lap was burning my skin and upper leg. It was pretty uncomfortable. Thankfully we were able to salvage some points and we can move onto the next round and a much better result.”

Team owner Craig Dack felt for his riders and team members as the rain continued to fall throughout the entire four motos.

“Mud is mud and as a team we just have to deal with it. But the rock in the eye to Jay and the fuel cap breakage to Josh are incidents that you can’t plan for,” Dack said. “It was a tough day for us, but we will regroup, have a good review of what’s happened and ensure we learn from it.”

The MX Nationals now moves to Appin in Sydney for round two of the championship on 3 April.