American Kyle Peters was visibly frustrated on Sunday afternoon at Wonthaggi’s Motul MX Nationals opening round after a mechanical issue in the closing laps cost him any chance of fighting for victory in moto one.

The Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki standout starred in moto one by keeping defending champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) at bay for near 30 minutes, but he was forced to settle for ninth when his RM-Z450 encountered a clutch problem with two laps remaining. Peters soldiered on for sixth in the second moto, taking P7 overall.

“It was a rough day for me,” Peters reflected. “I didn’t qualify very well, didn’t learn the track fast enough and just couldn’t put it together in practice, so coming into the first race I knew what I had to do. I hole-shotted and rang the whole moto first, then with two laps to go I had a malfunction and ended up ninth – pretty disappointed with that and just a little bit of bad luck.

“In the second moto I went out and had a decent start, but struggled with myself and the bike, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m happy for the little bit of time off coming into Appin, but we’re gonna make it happen.”

Despite the disappointment of teething issues at round one, Peters is eager to prove his potential at round two: “The first moto was good and no-one was going to get around me,” he added. “My fitness is there and speed is there, it was just a little bit of bad luck today, so we will regroup and work on a few more things to come out and really show these boys at Appin.”

Peters has been a revelation in the MX Nationals since joining Kawasaki in a guest appearance at Toowoomba last year, taking Super Pole there and winning a moto. It’s that type of form that could see him ultimately content for the crown now with Suzuki for 2017.