A second non-finish of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals season has put another major dent in SD3 Husqvarna’s Brett Metcalfe’s hopes to capture the MX1 crown upon return home this year.

Metcalfe, now 33, charged to fifth in moto one at Conondale on Sunday despite going down twice, however hopes of a stronger result in moto two were halted with a mechanical failure causing a DNF.

After exiting Wonthaggi’s second moto when a rock cracked his ignition cover and put him out of the race, Metcalfe’s second exit from a race this season now places him 107 points in arrears of runaway title-leader Dean Ferris following just three rounds.

“I was looking forward to a bit more of a natural track,” Metcalfe recalled. “We were a little disappointed not to make it onto Super Pole – we were literally 0.1 of a second off of fifth and 0.2 off fourth. I last raced there when I was 16, so I was kind of re-learning it a bit. We really improved the set-up a lot between practice and moto one with stability and turning, so hats off to the guys on the team who were able to make me faster.

“I had a good start, but in the second corner I was involved in a crash that dropped me back to 16th. I worked through and had another small crash, but was still able to charge up to fifth and I felt I had the speed to be up front, just not the track position. I went into the second moto with the same package and was in fifth or sixth spot when unfortunately we had a mechanical failure. We don’t know what happened, but it was a huge disappointment after what were definitely some positives for us.”

It’s been a mixed full-time return to the MX Nationals for American Pro Motocross round winner Metcalfe, displaying immense pace in the early events, but so far registering a best moto finish of third in the first race at Appin, where he went on to claim fourth overall.