MXGP World Championship rookie Pauls Jonass has surged into late season form, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider scoring his second-consecutive podium at Turkey’s penultimate round on Sunday.

Jonass, who started the season on the back foot after coming off a knee injury, has continued to climb through the order in the later stages of series, lodging a 2-5 scorecard at the Afyonkarahisar venue last weekend for third overall.

“It’s been a really good GP, but it didn’t start the best way,” Jonass admitted. “I had to work really hard to come back from my start crash in my qualifying race on Saturday, but it also gave me some good confidence coming into today’s motos as I knew I had good speed and I also liked the track.

“Getting the holeshot in the first moto today was awesome – I’ve been working hard on my starts and to get a first MXGP holeshot is really positive. I felt good the whole race. After Herlings passed me I rode well and, yeah, second place was great. The second race was also good – a good start but then I made a few small mistakes and dropped a few positions.

“I kept a good pace and managed to move into a position to get on the overall podium, which is a great way to finish the GP. I’m looking forward to China now.”

The 2017 MX2 World Champion has lifted himself to sixth in the championship rankings with just one to go, scheduled to take place at Shanghai in China this weekend.