It was always going to be a big ask of Scott Columb's body - to step off a plane from Europe, on to a lesser-powered motorbike and perform at his best.
The Queenstown-based international rider still managed a 2-1-3 set of results in the first round of the New Zealand Motocross Championship in Timaru on Sunday, despite the less than ideal build-up.
He finished his stint in Italy in New Zealand's Motocross of Nations team two Sundays ago, headed back to his Belgium base, left for home last Wednesday, arrived on Friday and travelled to Timaru on Saturday.
Needless to say, after the three 30-minute races and the trip back to his own bed, "I slept well", Columb said.
While ideally he would have like to win the trio of MX2 class outings, catching the "lappers" in race one slowed him up and a crash avoiding them in race three meant he had to settle for lower on the podium.
Going into this weekend's Rotorua round, he is trailing Michael Phillips, who will be on his home track, by five points.
Changing from the larger 450cc motorbike he has been campaigning with in several British series to the 250cc machine he is riding for the four-round national competition took some adjusting.
The positive flip side is he made the switch from the MX1 class (450cc) he finished third in last year to the 250cc category because he enjoys riding the smaller bike.
Last year's MX2 champion, Hawera's Daryl Hurley (Suzuki), emerged as the front-runner in the MX1 class at the weekend.
