Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Jay Wilson has taken a number of positives out of his runner-up performance at Appin’s second round of the Pirelli MX Nationals, leading a host of laps after hole-shotting both MX2 motos and going 2-3 for the day.

Wilson has endured a mixture of fortunes since capturing the MX2 crown with JCR Yamaha in 2015, including a full tilt with Honda in the premier class the following season and a brief stint in the world championship last year.

After scoring eighth at the opener, Appin was the first sign of Wilson’s resurgence outdoors, which will come as a direct confidence-boost just two rounds into 2018. Carrying his outright speed into the race weekend is a major element he succeeded at on Sunday, which bodes well entering the mid-sector of the series.

“I wasn’t able to show what I could do at round one because of bad starts and that type of thing, but it’s been a long time since I’ve led laps,” Wilson told MotoOnline.com.au. “To do that and prove it to myself in motocross was nice. I know that during the week I show I can go at that speed, but putting all the pieces together has been the biggest thing for us.”

Wilson has returned to the Yamalube Yamaha Racing organisation for this season – featuring many of the same faces he worked with during his championship campaign – and that’s another specific benefit he’s pivoting upon this year. However, the Gold Coast resident admits he plans on changing his tact when it comes to trying to clinch another national title this time around, with race wins of added importance.

“I’ve got an awesome team this year, guys back in my corner who I have worked with previously and have done some cool things with,” he added. “Today we took two hole-shots, led a lot of laps and I think it was a big step in the right direction mentally for me. It’s not that I didn’t think I could do it, it was just a matter of when I was going to. It’s taken its time, but that’s the way it is and it’s a tough sport – if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

“We’re in it for the championship and we’ll just keep chipping away, taking some wins when we can and concentrating on each moto and overalls instead of the championship. If I win the first moto and then go down while trying to win moto two, for me that’s actually a good step in the right direction. I’ve always been a guy to sit there and take seconds, take thirds, which isn’t a bad thing for points, but I need to bring that intensity.”