Queensland rookie Dylan Peterson is relishing the opportunity at hand as a fill-in rider with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team after the recent departure of Billy Mackenzie due to injury at round two of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

After getting the call to ride the MX1 machine, Peterson stepped up and showed he has the skills and speed to run with the best, taking 9-10-9 moto finishes for ninth overall at Wonthaggi’s third round on Sunday.

Peterson admits that his bad starts are something he will need to work on before round four, but was excited to start his time with the team on the right foot.

“I’m really pumped with this opportunity,” Peterson remarked. “I got some good results today but I really struggled off the starts but I came through.

“Mackenzie’s KX450F is awesome, it’s so quick. The bike’s running really good, it’s just perfect so a big thanks to my mechanic. I think I can build on these results at Perth and come out swinging.”

Peterson will now have two weeks to become more familiar on the factory machine, before heading to round four at Wanneroo in Western Australia on 12-13 May.