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Australian Joel Kelso believes his maiden Moto3 podium at Phillip Island shows his true potential on the world stage.
Coming into his home round, Kelso hadn’t finished higher than eighth in a Moto3 race, a feat that he achieved last year at the Island.
However, the PruestelGP rider not only raced his way to third in treacherous conditions; he qualified on the front row.
The Territorian kept with the lead group over the 21-lap race, vying with Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki for first position.
“It feels amazing, obviously; also here with all the family, it’s incredible,” said Kelso.
“It showed my true potential and I think that’s positive and obviously from now on out, we need to be able to do this at every race. So, that’s going to be our goal.
“It wasn’t that win that we were looking for but I’m over the moon and I couldn’t care less. I’m happy to be on the podium.”
To achieve his goal of a repeat performance Kelso says that it comes down to his confidence and self-belief.
“Once you get one podium you always want to get more but I think the biggest thing for me will be doing what I did this weekend,” said the 20-year-old.
“I had that confidence that we needed to show, like what we’ve shown in the past but never in world championships.”
“Now it’s time to figure out what we had this weekend that really pushed us up.
“I think that it was really just self-belief and not giving a shit about anyone else; just doing the work that we need to do.”
It came after two injury-hit seasons in the lightweight class and doubts about whether he would be on the grid again next year.
Kelso admitted it had been difficult trying to find another ride and, coming into this weekend, he felt relief having his future in place.
“I want to say I really appreciate the team for taking the faith in me for the next year, because I was on the shop window for a lot and, and things just didn’t go to plan,” he remarked.
“Massive pressure off the shoulders this weekend obviously closing with a new team.”
