Image: Foremost Media.

Mobil 1 Rick Ware Racing rider Colt Nichols ended his 2023 season with a World Supercross Championship (WSX) race win in Melbourne, but a hint of frustration remains toward his campaign as a whole.

Nichols opened WSX this year with a P8 overall in Birmingham, before a challenging night saw him finish a lowly P18 for round two after some misfortune in Abu Dhabi.

The number 45 notched 15-13 finishes across the first two finals in Melbourne, before delivering a statement ride in race three to close the season with a victory. However, his lower scores prior meant he finished eighth for the round, and 10th in the championship standings.

“Frustrating, I’d say is the first word that comes to mind,” Nichols told MotoOnline. “Not for any other reason than I just put myself in horrible positions, I feel like every race, and just really, really underperformed to what I feel like I should have been doing.

“It was frustrating. I mean the first race, I knew it would be a little bit of a longshot to do what I wanted to do, I was really fresh being on the Kawi, trying to get adjusted really quick. There was going to be some hiccups. The second race, I didn’t even finish the first race, then DNS, DNS.

“It was frustrating, and even tonight, I had no idea what place I finished in the first two mains, then I had the easiest race I’ve had in a while in the third one.”

Prior to his WSX commitments this year, Nichols lined up in the 450SX championship with Team Honda HRC, scoring a best result of P4 at Nashville in his rookie season in the class.

Additionally, he finished fifth in the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) 450 class finals at the LA Coliseum, and he will race for Beta in the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, plus select Pro Motocross Championship rounds prior to the SMX post-season.