Ryan Marmont was ninth overall for JDR/KTM at Coonabarabran. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

JDR/KTM Factory Racing’s former MX2 national champion Ryan Marmont had a major confidence boost with a return to form of sorts at the Coonabarabran round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

Marmont ran up front in the opening moto of the weekend on his way to fourth, displaying glimpses of the form that took him to the title way back in 2006.

Still recovering from a pre-season hand injury, Marmont recorded 12th and ninth place finishes to conclude the round, sealing him ninth overall.

“I felt a lot better at this round, opposed to the first round,” Marmont explained. “My hand injury is getting a lot stronger now, so although the overall result wasn’t what I was looking for, I felt like I was riding a lot stronger.

“I took a lot of positives from the weekend and we have two weeks to prepare for round three now, so hopefully I can keep moving forward.”

Marmont has stepped back to the MX2 class for 2012 and spent time in the U.S. riding for JDR/J-Star/KTM, but a hand injury suffered in an open at Appin has made for a difficult start to his MXN campaign.

After two rounds contested to date, Marmont has climbed to 10th in the championship standings.