Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Mega Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Nathan Crawford still considers himself the winner of Jimboomba’s final round of the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship last night.

The 20-year-old crossed the line first in the rain-affected main event, but was docked two positions by officials to place third following an off-track excursion in the whoops.

Crawford was elated with his breakout win prior to learning of the severe penalty handed out, which would have provided the ultimate send-off for his outgoing Carroll Motorsports team that had fielded Kawasaki’s factory team since 2011.

“I know in my head who crossed the line first in the race,” Crawford told MotoOnline.com.au. “To me I won the race, but I don’t know… I just got protested and came off second best. They put me back to third, so on paper it shows I didn’t win, but I was stoked with it and am going to take it as a win for sure. I’m not taking it as third-place.

“Me and Nick were the only ones who completed all 15 laps and I somehow still got put back to third, so I don’t know how they got that conclusion. It’s a bit disappointing, but not really much else I can say about it. I think everyone who was there knows who won the race, but it just doesn’t show it on paper.”

After closing a distant gap to American import Nick Schmidt (Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki), Crawford took charge of the 15-lap final, only to run off the track in the closing stages. He believes the mistake was more of a costly one than any kind of advantage.

“When I was entering the whoops I was in first and Nick was behind me,” he explained. “I made a mistake and the conditions of the track were terrible, so it shot me off the track and I put my hand up in the air, acknowledged I was off the track and tried not to make any advantage.

“As I pulled back onto the track I was side-by-side with Nick, so in my eyes, it was a disadvantage, but the officials don’t see it that way. I’m just putting it down to the conditions of the track and they got worse as the rain stopped. I know for a fact that the other riders were off the track a lot too, so it kind of sucks, but it is how it is.”

With the Carroll Motorsports-operated Mega Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki team ceasing operations at the end of the season, Crawford’s understood to be returning to the 250 class in 2018 – his deal yet to be announced at this point of the silly season.