A return to race fitness will be crucial for Australian Luke Styke after illness plagued his performances at the opening two rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

KEMEA Yamaha rider Styke has struggled with health problems as he acclimitises to world championship racing, his results further impacted by fuel issues in Thailand’s second round.

Last weekend saw Styke contest a round of the Dutch championship at Emmen with 15-11 results as he looks to rebuild fitness and confidence following a troublesome start to his international campaign.

“Today wasn’t too bad for the team,” team manager Marnicq Bervoets said. “Luke rode pretty good in the first race after the crash in the start. The second race he had a good start and managed to follow the pace from the leaders for a while. He then started to fade away but this is where his fitness comes to play.

“For him it’s important now to keep on riding and build up his fitness towards the next GPs. As he was ill in the first rounds he needs to rebuild that and hope it comes back soon.”

Styke will join the team at the second Dutch round in Mill this weekend, before the GP series resumes at Beto Carrero in Brazil on 30 March.