Racing in the second of four rounds in this season's New Zealand Motocross Championships, he lost his class lead by eight points to defending Darryll King, of Hamilton.
King won the day finishing 2-1-3 in his three races, while Columb was again let down by his starts.
"It was one of the courses I knew I needed to start well and I didn't, so I had a mixed bag with a 4-5-1 set of results. My reactions and out-of-the-gate speed were good but halfway down the straight I got passed by the riders on my left and right."
Columb spent the fortnight in between the first and second rounds honing his starts but said modifications would be made to his Suzuki RM-Z250 this week to find better power delivery to the ground before Sunday's third round at Pukekohe.
Columb said he had not raced at Pukekohe in 10 years but a new track layout meant the course would be new to everyone."
Bay of Plenty's Ben Townley scored another hat trick of wins in the MX1 class and doubled his championship lead to 18 points over arch rival Josh Coppins, of Motueka, on Sunday.
