MX1 rookie Nathan Crawford feels he’s knocking on the door of claiming his first Motul MX Nationals premier class podium after falling short at Port Macquarie’s ninth round.

The Mega Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki rider recorded a stunning third place result in the opening moto, which set him up nicely for a solid overall placing in New South Wales.

However, a crash in the opening laps of race two forced him to negotiate his way through the field, salvaging eighth for fifth overall. Despite being at the tail-end of the top five, he was just one point shy of third.

“I got another top five result, which was really good,” Crawford commented. “I’m happy with my first moto and happy with my starts today too – I got two good starts.

“I was third in the first moto and second turn in the last moto I was going for a pass that would’ve put me into third, but I washed the front. I was playing catch up from the get go and could only get back to eighth, it gave me fifth overall.

“Again, we’re really knocking on the door of a podium and I was only a few points off it today, but yeah, moving onto Toowoomba in Queensland, hopefully we can get it done there.”

The Motul MX Nationals will now head to Crawford’s home state of Queensland for the final two rounds, which will run on back-to-back weekends at Toowoomba and Coolum respectively.