Source: Supplied.

It a season-best start for Dean Wilson and the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team in Oakland as the former privateer made his first appearance for the factory squad at the fifth round of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in Oakland.

Making the move from his privateer YZ450F to the factory FC 450 this week, Wilson made positive moves forward right away as a full-time replacement for French rider, Christophe Pourcel.

“I’ll take today as a pretty good positive,” said Wilson. “I qualified really well – I haven’t been on the board all year – ended up sixth overall so that was a great start.

“It’s such an exciting week for me since getting on the team. I fell first lap of my heat race in the sand. I went into the semi, made the pass for third, but then made a rider error and crashed again. I went into the LCQ – I just put in all the laps tonight – and won that.”

Unable to crack the 450SX top 10 during the opening four rounds with a top placing of 11th prior to the Husqvarna switch, the Scottish rider will continue to build on this season-best finish.

“I went into the main event and was in a seventh position battle and was feeling pretty good, but then just got kind of tired in the end,” he explained. “The track was gnarly, but I survived and got 10th – my first top 10 of the year – so I’ll take it and move on from here.”

Wilson currently sits 10th overall on the 450SX points ladder with 12 scheduled rounds remaining on the 2017 calendar.