GOUDHURST ace Tommy Searle was back in the top 10 at round eight of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, writes Nathan Scott.

After the long haul to a string of East Coast venues, Tommy Searle was able to race a little closer to his California home while still making his way back to full race fitness.

The Washougal MX Park is known as one of the most scenic circuits in the sport. Located in the foothills of south west Washington State, amid a forest of fir trees, it is not far from the Columbia River and Mount St Helen's. It's an old-school track where the spectators can get close as it winds its way through the trees with lots of elevation changes including the Dunlop Horsepower Hill and the Scott Ski Jump.

Searle once again put in a good qualification run to place his Factory FMF KTM eighth on the gate. He said: "It's a beautiful track, but you don't get much grip.

"I guess it's not an issue, I guess you just have to use your throttle control a little bit."

With the weather looking fine as the riders lined up for the first race, Searle was pushed out for a mid-pack position at the first corner with the Geico Powersports Honda of Trey Canard taking the holeshot.

Canard immediately gapped the field by the first checkpoint with team-mate Justin Barcia in the mix along with the Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki, runners of Dean Wilson, Tyla Rattray and Jake Weimer, unlike their team-mate Christophe Pourcel.

With Searle running in 14th, he had a lot of work to do, but was in good company as series leader Pourcel had suffered a bad start.

Knowing that Canard was chipping away at his points lead each week, Pourcel could ill-afford a bad result and began to charge through the pack with relative ease. At the 10-minute mark, Pourcel had already made his way up to Rattray in fifth while Searle was closing on the third Geico Honda of Eli Tomac for 10th.

Half-distance saw Rattray finally succumb to a very hard pass from his team-mate, while Barcia dropped back, retiring shortly afterwards with a mechanical problem. Meanwhile, Searle battled to close in on 10th again, following a mistake while on the back wheel of Tomac earlier.

The second half of the race saw Pourcel work his way towards the front with more hard passes on Weimer and Blake Wharton's fourth Geico Honda while Searle finally grabbed ninth.

Canard finally crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Pourcel with Weimer in third. Behind them a storming Wilson, recovering from an early crash, passed Tomac on the line for sixth while Searle finished 10th.

The second race was a replay for Canard taking the holeshot, with Pourcel looking to make a comeback in second and a much better start for Searle in eighth.

Wilson again crashed, followed shortly by Barcia, as Rattray and Weimer followed their team-mate, Pourcel. Mid-race had Canard with a clear lead, followed by Pourcel, while Searle had moved to a safe-looking seventh.

However, a few laps later saw Tomac and Wilson pass him as he dropped to ninth.

As the final laps ticked away, Searle stayed consistent as Weimer dropped down the pack, followed by a mistake from Tomac to elevate him to seventh at the line. Canard took the flag with Pourcel, unable to challenge with a damaged clutch, in second, and Rattray in third.

After a hard day Searle finished eighth overall to move up to 10th in the championship.

He now has a well-deserved and useful two-week break in which to work on his fitness before returning to the Unadilla track in New York State on August 14.