Image: Simon Cudby.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart insists he’s in a positive frame of mind after crashing out of Anaheim 1’s Monster Energy Supercross season opener.

The two-time series champion recovered from a bad start in the 20-lap main event to challenge for the lead in the final stages, however a spectacular crash in the whoops forced him out of the race.

Stewart’s RM-Z450 was heavily damaged in the fall, unable to complete the final laps, registering his first DNF of 2014. Still, he’s in a confident mood heading to Phoenix this weekend.

“This weekend was just the first round,” said Stewart. “Definitely, I didn’t want to go out like that, but at the same time, I felt like this was the best I’ve been riding in years and this was the best I’ve felt on a motorcycle in years.”

“I was late off the gate and I was pretty far back. But I made my way up on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and it got better and better as the race went on. I felt stronger and stronger and my lap times started going down.

“I could see that I was starting to pick-it-up and make time on the guys up front. I went to make a pass in the whoops – they’d been taking people out all night – and I kind of got caught out.

“But I’m happy, the Yoshimura Suzuki team stepped it up again and I’m really proud of my guys and where we are. And now we’re just going to continue to get better as we head to Phoenix.”

Phoenix will take place on Saturday, 11 January, marking the second of 17 rounds to be contested this season.