Experienced international Brett Metcalfe expressed the difficulties in making passes at last weekend’s eighth round of the Motul MX Nationals in Port Macquarie, citing a one-lined circuit as the reason for limited passing opportunities.

The Mega Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki rider recorded 8-3 results for fourth overall, narrowly missing the podium by a slender one point margin.

Metcalfe was caught up in a crash in moto one, which saw the South Australian navigate his way from last all the way into the top 10, before he put in a stellar performance during race two, where he piloted his KX450F to third.

“In the first moto I had a decent start, but in the third turn I came together with a few guys and went down,” Metcalfe explained. “I was dead last and I put on a charge, but the track was really one-lined – there were multiple lines, it was just difficult to make passes.

“I could only get back to eighth, there was a freight train of guys ahead of me, but I couldn’t make much of a better result out of that one. The second moto I got through clean, but I had to do a lot of work on [Luke] Clout, it was just extremely hard to make a pass and I didn’t really have much of an advantage to come up and dive under the inside.

“Once I finally got by him, I was gone and closed the gap to Todd Waters, we were both pushing and man, I really gave it everything I had – on the last lap I went into a deep rut on the inside and I think the mud hit the shift lever and knocked neutral, so I just laid it down on the ground. It was a good day of riding, the results just weren’t what I wanted.”

Despite missing a round of the championship, Metcalfe sits eighth in the series standings as the Motul MX Nationals heads to Queensland for the final two stops on the calendar.