A lengthy and challenging layout within the Daytona International Speedway saw Yamaha San Manuel LandM’s Josh Hill take 9th position for the ninth round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross/FIM World Championship. The 20 year old started brightly in the first of two visits to the Floridian state but could not maintain the pace of his pursuers.

Hill was actually headed by Kyle Chisholm who took 8th place on the 2010 YZ450F and was the highest Yamaha runner on the East Coast. Hill, from Oregon, racked-up five consecutive podiums in the opening phase of the championship but has now missed the rostrum in the last three events and suffered a crash while in practice for round eight in Atlanta last week.

"I don't know what's going on,” he admitted. “I know I have the speed, but I'm just lacking the intensity in the first few laps. I think maybe I have to just go out and race and forget about points and everything else, because when I did that in the beginning of the year, things went really good."

Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco did not finish the main event after swerving into Michael Byrne and injuring his right index finger. At the moment it is not clear whether the veteran and MX of Nations winner will be able to compete next week. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Justin Brayton sadly ended his streak of consistent results as he also DNF-ed in the wake of a crash that left him with a sore wrist.

Hill is now third in the standings and 30 points from leader Ryan Dungey. Brayton is the next highest Yamaha rider in sixth. Next Saturday will see the series head outside the USA for the only time in the 2010 schedule with the visit to Toronto in Canada representing round ten.