Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Gavin Faith is adamant that the rain-soaked conditions dashed his hopes of showing off his speed at the opening round of Monster Energy Super X in Melbourne last Saturday night.

On debut for the factory Honda team, the 19-year-old U.S. import impressed with a convincing heat race victory before the heavens opened and the track became a complete bog.

Faith ended the round in 12th overall, but a solid heat race victory ahead of eventual round winner Matt Moss has him certain he can contend for race wins during the season.

“I really didn’t get the chance to show my true potential tonight,” Faith said. “It was kind of disappointing because I beat the overall winner convincingly in our heat, but then the track just turned to bog.

“When it came to the final it became the survival of the fittest. I spun down to the boards off the start in race one then the mud got the better of me and I went down a few times.

“In the second race, I got a good start but I bent the brake leaver when I went down. These conditions were crazy, certainly not what I expected for my first race here in Australia.”

Faith is a relative unknown to Australian fans, a top amateur rider at home who was discovered by Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team boss Yarrive Konsky in a recent working holiday to the U.S.