Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ford Dale admits his bad starts are the main factor that contributed to his disappointing result at round two of the Monster Energy MX Nationals in Coonabarabran.

After struggling all day with his starts, the young Queenslander was forced to battle through the pack in all three motos, making it near impossible to catch the lead riders.

Dale was in damage control mode throughout the day trying to minimise the points lost, salvaging a 7-5-3 score, good enough for fifth overall in the MX2 class.

“It was such a disappointing weekend,” said Dale. “I will definitely go back to the drawing board work on my starts ahead of the next round.

“In the first race I came together with Josh Cachia on the opening lap and we both went down but I managed to come through from dead last to finish the race fifth.

“My starts just weren’t good, but thankfully, with the longer final race I was able to make up some ground and finish third.”

Dale now sits third in the MX2 championship standings, 22-points behind leader Luke Styke and nine-points behind second place Kirk Gibbs.