Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe continues to make progress after two weekends in the position of Ryan Villopoto, finishing eighth overall at Hangtown’s round of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.

Metcalfe was sixth in moto one aboard the factory KX450F and led the opening stages of moto two, but eventually dropped down the order to ninth after clashing with a charging Trey Canard. Form in the later stages of the motos will be important moving forward.

“It wasn’t a great day, but could have been,” Metcalfe told Pulp MX. “I qualified really well, top five, so I was happy with that. I ran up front both motos early on, but just not finishing them off like I need to right now.

“I’m learning a lot with the bike, I know I’m in great shape right now, so it’s just a comfort thing that we’ve got to adjust. It’s been short notice getting onto this bike set up and there’s no point for me coming in and changing the world. These guys know what they’re doing.”

Metcalfe will continue to personalise the settings on Villopoto’s bike in order to maintain his early-moto pace, meanwhile adapting to the factory version of the KX450F after riding a production version in Canada last season.

“Two weeks in now, we’re learning and made some good changes to where we need to be,” he added. “My pace up front was good and I was comfortable, but I need to make things a little easier for me to finish off the moto. We’ll all work together and we’re going to get there.”

A month into his replacement role with Kawasaki alongside Jake Weimer, the South Australian maintains a top five finish in the standings currently sitting fifth overall.