Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Latest American import Nick Schmidt admitted he was still acclimatising to the Australian Supercross Championship as Jimboomba’s opening round wrapped up on Saturday night.

Recently signed to Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki, Schmidt qualified strongly in sixth and then replicated that result in his heat, however he failed to carry that momentum into the final with a 14th-place result.

“My speed was there this weekend,” he stated after debuting the 2018 RM-Z450. “I qualified well and the times were good. I was sort of just getting used to racing down under – it’s a little different to what we race back home.

“I like the challenge of being here, last night we just needed to get those first race jitters out of the way. I rode a little tight and I just needed to focus on doing what I do and getting the results. I had some bad luck in the heat race and tipped it over a couple of times, and made some little mistakes.

“In the main event I got a good jump and I was in fourth for a while, but I made a mistake and it cost me. I was down a couple of laps after that, so I just used the rest of the race to see where my speed was at. I know what I need to work on now, we have a little break, and I’m just looking forward to getting to round two, seeing what we can do and putting the Suzuki on the podium where it belongs.”

Schmidt will continue working alongside teammate Luke Wilson – who finished directly ahead of him in P13 at round one – in the lead-up to Bacchus Marsh’s second round of the season on 14 October.