Defending triple Australian Motocross Champion Jay Marmont remains confident that he has the speed to win races in 2011 following his first MX Nationals podium of the season at Appin last weekend.

The Wollongong-based fan favourite raced to 4-4-2-8 results during the round’s gruelling four-moto format consisting of 20 minutes per heat, enough to secure an overall position on the rostrum.

After qualifying fastest for the round, 27-year-old Marmont was relentless in his pursuit of victory in motos one and two despite bad starts, clawing his way back to fourth on both occasions.

Later in the afternoon in the second pair of back-to-back motos, Marmont enjoyed a tight tussle with Dean Ferris to finish second in moto three, before a first turn crash dashed his hopes of an overall win in the day’s finale.

After remounting at the rear of the 40-rider field, Marmont sliced his way through the pack to salvage eighth, sealing third overall and boosting him from ninth to seventh in the title chase.

“I qualified first so I thought the whole day was going to come easy for me at what is my home race at Appin,” CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha’s Marmont reflected.

“I’m kind of used to the surface here and I just thought it would come together for me, but it wasn’t to be.

“I didn’t get very good starts in the first two races so I had to work my way to fourth in those from outside of the top 10, but in looking at my lap times I should have been able to get those race wins.

“Going into the last two races the day was still wide open, and I was able to have a good battle with Ferris in moto three – full credit to him because he was riding really good.

“In the final race I got an okay start but I was involved in an incident at the first turn and my bike got stuck with [Cheyne] Boyd’s. Once I got going I had another crash, but I eventually got back to eighth.

“All things considered I’ll take that podium overall and I definitely know that I’ve got the speed to win more races. I just have to go home, put my head down, and come out swinging at Raymond Terrace.”

Following two of nine rounds, Marmont now sits 21 points out of the series lead, halving the deficit of 42 points that he was faced with after the opening round held in Victoria last month.