American Mike Alessi had a tough night in his Super X debut at Newcastle.

World famous American rider Mike Alessi endured a difficult debut in Super X at Newcastle last weekend, qualifying strongly in fifth position and taking fourth place in heat two of the night before bad luck spoiled his attempts at claiming a good haul of points come final time.

The 22-year-old Californian is in Australia with the JDR Motorex KTM team for the entire Super X season, however a broken gear lever in the first 12-lap main event of the night and a tough block in the second ended his hopes of a good result.

“Australian Super X is great and the track was really good, but I just had some bad luck,” he said. “In the first 12-lap main event the shift-lever broke off on the first lap, which was unfortunate, but when I pulled in to change it the officials said we couldn’t go back out.

“In the second main event I got a great start with the holeshot, and then somehow I got a tough block caught on the foot peg. It was unfortunate again because I got a really good start, but I had to pull into the mechanics’ area and get it taken off on the first lap so I immediately went back to last.

“I was charging back through the pack and unfortunately had a fall, but it was just one of those nights where bad luck hit me. It was tough. The goal is to go to Canberra and get a good result, hopefully to be up on that podium.”

Despite his disappointments in the second final, Alessi still circulated to finish 17th and take home four points for the series.