Australia’s Chad Reed finished out his short 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship tour with an unfortunate mechanical issue forcing him out of the Italian MXGP event in Mantova.

Following a 13th place overall finish at the previous Matterley Basin event, the one-time grand prix regular was searching for another top 15 finish before the unknown technical fault occurred.

“I was just trying to find a rhythm that would kind of put me somewhere in the top 15,” Reed told PulpMX. “I was in the top 20 there and we had a bike issue. I don’t know what happened, it was just like someone pulled the plug.”

Due to a hand injury sustained at the previous round, Reed entered the second and final event scheduled on his European vacation with minimal preparation time and admits it did hinder his performance during the two-day event.

“I only rode once this week on Wednesday and around 15 minutes in my hand was really sore,” he said. “I showed up Saturday morning to ride and immediately it was hurting, I couldn’t hold on and I didn’t have any grip strength so I struggled all weekend.”

Although his MXGP appearances didn’t end on a high note, the Australian motocross and supercross icon enjoyed returning to the series that kicked off his international career and says a 2017 return could be on the cards.

“It’s been fun,” he added. “I got to do things I was able to do 15 years ago and I really did enjoy the trip, I would like to come back next year.”

Reed will now take a brief break from racing before attending his next scheduled racing event inside Qudos Bank Arena for the 2016 AUS-X Open event on 12-13 November.