Image: Marc Jones (Foremost Media).

CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team’s Dylan Long started to find his groove at yesterday’s second round of the Pirelli MX Nationals in New South Wales, where he finished up fourth on count-back after equalling on points for third.

Round one was admittedly a disappointing showing for the popular Victorian, which only fuelled his desire to make a significant improvement at the Appin stop of the 10-round series.

Lodging a 4-3 scorecard, Long has extracted confidence from what can only be described as a positive weekend, which he now intends to use a base moving forward to Wonthaggi’s double-header in May.

“Today was a little more like me and the way I ride,” Long explained. “The opening round was just awful and there was no way to hide from it. I went home with my tail between my legs and made sure I did the work for this weekend and went to the start line confident that I was prepared.

“My goal is to get on the podium so I was a bit short of that but I feel much better within myself about the way I raced and my ability. The plan now is to build from this and try an improve a little at each round.”

The factory Yamaha rider is now positioned fourth in the championship standings and trails the top three by just four points.