Image: Marc Jones (Foremost Media).

The comeback to racing of Keiron Hall with KSF Ecstar Suzuki was delayed further midway through the Appin round of the Pirelli MX Nationals, parking his RM-Z450 midway through the opening encounter.

Still recovering from a pre-season thumb injury, Hall qualified well down the order in position 19, but still attempted to race in moto one. That was where is day would ultimately end.

“I went out for qualifying and felt okay,” Hall reflected. “The thumb was undoubtedly sore and it was my first ride since suffering the injury, but I felt like I could line up for the opening race. I got off to a great start and pushed hard in the opening lap.

“I pushed as hard as I could, but it proved to be too much for my thumb at this point. I’ll take the next week or two to let it heal further, with the aim of getting back on the bike and getting some riding done in the week leading up to Wonthaggi.”

It was a relatively mixed round altogether for the new-look Suzuki team, with Jordan Hill’s debut in MX2 resulting in P16 for moto one, before coming to a premature end when he crashed out of moto two. Fellow RM-Z250 pilot Jesse Madden was 12th overall.