Former SX2 champion Jay Wilson regrets not having the same mentality he had for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne as he did for the duration of the Australian Supercross Championship, which saw him reach the podium for the first time in his title defence at the season-finale.

The Yamalube Yamaha Racing contender admits he entered Marvel Stadium with a ‘nothing to lose’ approach, leading to a stellar third place result in front of 35,000 fans.

Wilson came close to podium success on a number of occasions throughout the five-round championship, although a selection of unfortunate circumstances saw him unable to challenge for the title in the end.

“Tonight my mentality was that I had nothing to lose,” said Wilson. “I was fifth coming into the final round and even if I had a shocker, it wouldn’t have done much for the overall result, so I just laid it all on the line and see what happened.

“I didn’t get great starts all night and that was my fault, my reaction time at the gate was terrible, but I managed to make some passes only to get near the front but run out of time. But, I feel pretty good with how I raced tonight and just wished I had of taken that mentality in from round one.

“The team did a great job as always and the bike was perfect. The Yamalube Yamaha Racing team put in a big effort and it was frustrating not to be able to get them on the podium until now in this series. Thanks to my mechanic, Mike Ward, his dedication and passion is unrivalled and while we didn’t get the championship back, we gave it a good shake.”

The Queenslander is now set to race the opening five rounds of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship.