A costly last-lap crash in the SX2 main event at Adelaide Showground left Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Jayce Cosford to rue an opportunity missed to score a top-five result at the second round of the 2022 Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX).

After showing promise in this year’s Penrite ProMX Championship, including MX2 podium finishes as a privateer, Cosford was granted the factory opportunity for AUSX in place of the injured Alex Larwood.

A challenging season-opening final at Marvel Stadium saw the Queensland-based rider limp home to P14 after an opening lap crash, then getting a tuff block cover stuck in his rear wheel. Notably, he showed speed throughout the night, qualifying fifth in his debut with the team.

Cosford continued to build on Saturday in South Australia and was running fourth for the majority of the main, before suffering an untimely fall as he approached the final turn of the race. The number 754 was able to remount and finish sixth, but was left disappointed with his mistake in the closing stages.

“That last-lap crash left a sour taste in my mouth,” Cosford recalled after the frustrating end to round two. “It’s not a good feeling to do all that hard work, get yourself into a good position in the race to then crash within metres of the finish line. That should have been a fourth-place finish, so I’m feeling a little bit dirty with myself.

“The positives were that I was better than last week and I rode well for 14 laps. My pace didn’t drop, I kept my breathing under control and was pretty strong until the end. I think the mistake came as I felt Nathan [Crawford] was a bit closer to me than what he really was, so I sent it a bit going into the whoops thinking he was coming up on me, when I actually had more time and space to work with.

“The last two rounds have proven to me that I can be a top-five guy in supercross and that I just need to get it done. We have a couple of weeks off before Newcastle, so I can go back, work through what happened tonight and make more improvements at the next round.”

Cosford will have an opportunity for redemption when the gates drop for round three of the 2022 AUSX Championship in Newcastle on 26 November.