James Stewart was solid in Dallas before a clutch issue robbed him of a main event birth. Image: Simon Cudby.

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing rider James Stewart plans to move past his disappointing DNS at Dallas’ seventh round of the Monster Energy Supercross series, a mystery clutch issue forcing him out of the main event before the gates dropped.

After setting the pace in the first practice session and qualifying second fastest for the day, Stewart got a great start in the heat race. He slotted into second place and stalked the leader, making a smooth pass at the half-way point of the eight-lap race to take the win.

However, in between the heat race and the final, although no changes had been made to the RM-Z, the bike experienced a mystery clutch issue and Stewart was unable to start.

It was a frustrating finish to the evening for the former dual champion, who’s confident that he’s gaining form in the series’ mid stages.

“The day went pretty good and we had some good practice times,” said Stewart. “The heat race was awesome, I got a good start on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450. We changed some stuff up during the week and it was great. And I was feeling confident and really great – I hadn’t felt that great since I was 16.

“I was sitting at the gate, ready to go and we had something happen with the clutch. I tried to see what we could do to fix it but it was internal. But health wise, I feel really great and now we’ll go to Atlanta and get it done.”

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next event is the eighth round of the series on Saturday, 23 February.