Jay Marmont was at his brilliant best when struck with adversity in Maitland. Image: Rice Photography.

CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha’s Jay Marmont has admitted that he needs to remain focused entering this weekend’s final round of Monster Energy Super X, despite taking control of the series at Maitland on Saturday night.

Second place in the Hunter Valley handed Marmont the series lead and red plates for the first time this season, however he knows that there are still 20 hard-fought laps of racing to go before he can claim the title.

“The points lead doesn’t change anything. My goal is still to win the final round and race at my best,” Marmont explained. “I will put in another hard week on the training track because this championship isn’t over.”

After dominating practice and qualifying, a crash during the heat race dashed Marmont’s hopes of a good gate pick in the Triple Header main event at Maitland.

A crash in the first turn of final one saw him forced to fight back to eighth, before he battled to 1-1 results to round out the night in typical Marmont form when his back’s against the wall.

“It wasn’t an easy day for me, but to come out with the points lead and a five point gap over second is awesome,” he added.

“The starts on this track were important so that crash in the heat race made it tough for me as we had to use the same starting gate in all three races and I wasn’t able to pick my preferred gate.

“Then to fall in moto one just added to my problems and I had to put my head down and pass as many riders as I could in such a short race.

“Things went a lot better in the last two and I was able to climb back to second for the night, so it was good to salvage a respectable result on a tough night.”

After the four rounds contested so far, Marmont has placed 8-3-1-2 overall and now sits on 80 points, with Tye Simmonds on 75 and Daniel McCoy on 72.