A pair of second place overall results at Wonthaggi’s double-header round of the Pirelli MX Nationals over the weekend have promoted MX1 rookie Mitch Evans into the runner-up spot in the championship standings.

Evans, who’s been highly-impressive in his first four rounds of premier class racing, excelled in the challenging and demanding conditions that were thrown at riders in Victoria, and managed to lead a number of laps in the final affair on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m really happy with the weekend,” Evans expressed. “We just wanted to get starts both days and that’s what we did so I can’t complain with the result we got at all.

“My starts were the one thing I knew I needed to improve on to get the results. Especially when tracks are sort of one-lined, a start and running with guys like Ferris and Gibbsy right from the start is so important. We worked on starts a lot over the last three weeks and it definitely paid off.

“Coming in to the weekend I knew the double header was crucial and that my result on Saturday would set the tone for the following day, so getting a second on day one put me in a good headspace and even though the track was rough and we had raced the previous day, on Sunday I felt good.”

The Raceline Pirelli KTM ace sits 58 points behind two-time champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team), who has remained undefeated this season.