Jacksonville’s 17th stop of the 2017 MX2 World Championship proved to be a challenging one for series leader Pauls Jonass, who strung together 10-5 results for seventh overall.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider battled with the hot and humid conditions, and a crash at the start of race one didn’t help his cause of endeavouring to finish up on the podium.

Despite the setback, he’s remaining optimistic as the series heads back to Europe this weekend for the penultimate round, which could potentially see him wrap up the title should the results play into his favour.

“I knew it would be tough,” said Jonass. “It was hot and humid and we’re not used to this and I made it a bit more difficult for myself. I didn’t get good starts today and crashed on the start straight in the first moto; to come back to 10th from dead-last was not too bad.

“I lost only one point in that race. I had a better start in the second race but it was so hot and it was difficult. The track was also bumpier and I couldn’t find my flow. Still, I managed to finish fifth and now I’m looking forward to the next GPs. It will be hard, but we’ll get there.”

Assen will host round 18 of the MX2 World Championship, while the series finale will be held at Villars sous Eco in France on 17 September.