Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Mitch Evans has expressed his disappointment following his professional debut on the world stage at last weekend’s Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Maggiora, Italy.

Evans received the call-up to replace injured MX2 representative Jed Beaton less than a week prior to the event, leading the 17-year-old scrambling to prepare himself for the weekend.

Despite a lack of preparation, Evans took on the responsibility of representing Australia and assisted the country in claiming eighth overall after recording 35-37 results.

“I didn’t feel that I rode the best,” Evans explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “Obviously I let the team down with my bad results, I actually don’t even know what I got in the motos because I was that far back. The tracks over there are a lot different to here in Australia, and the whole weekend my suspension was really soft.”

“We made a few changes, but I just wasn’t comfortable for the whole weekend. The bike I was riding was also a lot different to what I have at home, it had no bottom-end, but had a heap of top-end, which is nowhere near the same as my bike over here – I tried doing my best.”

The Queenslander stated he wasn’t expecting the call, and after accepting the role he acknowledged that his attendance at the event wouldn’t be a simple process.

“I was shocked and blown away when I got the call, but I soon realised it wasn’t just as easy as jumping on a plane and going over there,” he continued. “I had to fly back to Cairns to get my passport and a few other things, we also had to organise riding gear and a heap of other stuff. It was a pretty hectic 40 hours from when I first found out I was going to when I left.”

The recently crowned Australian MXD champion explained that the experience has provided him with direction in his career, and that hard work will be in order for him to return to the world stage at a competitive level.

“I was sitting there before the first moto on Sunday and I was pretty nervous,” he recalled. “I was looking out at all of the fans everywhere – there was heaps of people there. The commentators started piping them up and the crowd just went off.”

“Right there and then I said to myself that this is where I want to be. This is nothing that I’ve ever seen before and it gave me a feeling through my body that I’ve never felt before. I told myself that I’ve got a lot of work to do and this where I want to be. It has definitely made me a lot hungrier and being back home for supercross, I’ve realised I can train a lot harder,” he added.

Evans will now return his focus on the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship, with round two scheduled to commence on 14 October, in Toowoomba, Queensland.