Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Serco Yamaha’s Wade Hunter has returned to the form that earned him a factory ride following an impressive podium finish at Jimboomba’s opening round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship.

After claiming fourth in his heat race, Hunter made multiple important passes in the opening laps of the main event to position himself within the top three, concluding the race in third.

“I’m pretty happy with third, although I thought I had a win in me tonight,” Hunter reflected. “I didn’t get the start, but I was happy to get back the top three. Where I was on the first lap, I definitely didn’t think I was going to be near the podium.”

“The track came back around for the main event, there was a bit of moisture coming out of the ground – there was a little bit of traction, and there were definitely slick spots,” he continued. “I made a push for second at one stage and started to make some big mistakes, so I thought I would settle down and take third.”

The likeable Queenslander recently came off a tough and challenging season in the MX Nationals where he failed to deliver the results initially expected of him, however he has welcomed the supercross series with a host of confidence.

“Supercross comes naturally to me, I don’t feel uncomfortable on a supercross track at all,” he explained. “I carry a fair bit of confidence knowing that other people struggle when they ride it.”

Hunter will maintain his current training program into Toowoomba’s second round next month, only making minor adjustments as he endeavours to improve on his result.