Aussie rookie Brett Metcalfe crashed hard for the second week in a row at Daytona.

South Australian Brett Metcalfe is working through a painful two weeks in the AMA Supercross Championship, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rookie suffering his second heavy crash in as many weeks at Daytona on Saturday.

After a poor start in the main event and 11th after the first lap, Metcalfe was able to work his Suzuki up to eighth place before a mistake put him on the ground on lap 13. He remounted to eventually finish a disappointing 18th.

“This track is always tough and last week’s crash took a lot out of me physically,” Metcalfe explained. “I knew it was gonna be tough coming in, but I tried to be positive.

“We got better through practice and my Rockstar Makita Suzuki team really got the bike working good for me and I couldn’t really ask for anything more. I just wasn’t physically prepared for that kind of race.

“I tried to make a game plan and stick to it, but I lost that game plan about halfway through the main. I felt good at the beginning of the race, but by the halfway point, it was tough for me and I lost a bit of focus there.

“We’re still in one piece and I just hope to have a good week and move on.”

Metcalfe now sits seventh in the championship at the mid-way point of the season.