Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki showed strong form at the opening round of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals in Wonthaggi, Victoria, on Sunday, however bad luck and trying conditions struck both riders.
Team newcomer Kyle Peters marginally missed out on transferring into Super Pole when he qualified sixth, before going on to register hard-fought 9-6 results in the motos. That placed him seventh overall for the opening round.
"It was a rough day for me in some ways and qualifying didn't go overly well, but coming into the first race I knew what I had to do," Peters said. "I holeshotted and led pretty much the whole race until two laps to go, but I ended up ninth. It was disappointing, but just a little bit of bad luck. In moto two and struggled with myself and the bike, so we have some work to do and we're going to make it happen at Appin. My fitness is there and speed is there, so we will regroup from here."
Wilson was unable to match his pre-season form when the gates dropped on the series, going 24-23 for 24th overall. He will aim to reset ahead of round two in three weeks' time.
"It was a pretty disappointing start for me," Wilson reflected. "I don't think I've ever had a day as bad as today, so it's pretty upsetting because everything has been going really well leading up to round one. Nothing went my way today or turned out as planned, so I just have to forget about this one and move on to Appin. We have some stuff to work on, just within myself, to figure out what's missing on race day and to bring that to round two."
Peters rocketed to the lead in race one with a convincing holeshot, maintaining control of the field all the way through the final stages of the race, however he would relinquish the position to defending champion Dean Ferris with just two laps to go.
Devastation would hit just moments later as the American suffered an issue on the final lap, forcing him to nurse his way home to ninth. As for Wilson, he ran into difficulties of his own and struggled to come to grips with the unforgiving circuit, settling for P24.
Race two saw Peters fall shy of the start that brought him the lead in opening moto, resulting in him having to work his way through the pack and negotiate traffic. Sixth was the best he could muster in the highly-competitive class, crediting him seventh overall. Wilson unfortunately had another moto to forget, adding to a frustrating weekend.
The 2017 Motul MX Nationals will continue with round two to be contested at Appin in New South Wales on Sunday, 23 April.