Ryan Villopoto leads AMA Supercross into this weekend's Vegas finals, but Aussie Chad Reed (22) is right on his tail. Image; Simon Cudby/RacerXOnline.com.

American Supercross

• The big buzz this week is the AMA Supercross season finale in Las Vegas, the road to the finals finally reaching its destination. It’s going to be a huge weekend, if not for the premier class title chase, but as well for the fact that four – yes, four! – titles will be decided in the city of sin.

• Chad Reed is Australia’s hope of a championship this weekend, sitting second in the Supercross class after 16 rounds, but he’ll need a serious case of luck on his side if he’s to take the cake. Reed needs to win, which would be his second of the year, and then hope that series leader Ryan Villopoto finishes outside of the top five. Fingers crossed, for the TwoTwo.

• How about last weekend’s race in Salt Lake City though? Snow stunned the industry in the morning right before show time, but the even bigger shock was that James Stewart crashed out of contention for the title while winning. His first mistake, which was a simple front-ender in a berm, was fair enough, but that second one was ridiculous in the whoops.

• There has been much made of Stewart’s title, ‘the fastest man on the planet’, recently and it’s pretty safe to say that the likes of Villopoto and even Reed at times could challenge that. What many are also asking is, did Bubba get slower or have his rivals stepped it up?

• Aussie hero Reed was expected to show up on a factory Honda CRF450R at SLC, but ultimately raced a bike that was, at least externally, not too far different from what we’ve seen him on all season. Chad noted that he did have additional help from American Honda that included some trick factory bits, but he certainly wasn’t on one of Trey Canard’s or Josh Grant’s full factory rides.

• It’s difficult to imagine just how talented German teenager Ken Roczen is on a dirt bike considering the fact that he leads the MX2 Motocross World Championship after two rounds and still was able to finish on the podium in the West Coast Lites AMA Supercross race in Salt Lake. The 17-year-old was exceptional in second, just five days after he raced the Dutch GP in the sands of Valkenswaard on Monday! Unreal…

As the current AMA Motocross number two, there's every chance Brett Metcalfe could upstage Suzuki teammate Ryan Dungey in the 2011 nationals.

American Motocross

• We decided to give South Australian Brett Metcalfe a call earlier this week to see how his preparation is coming along for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, resulting in this Moto Talk interview. Despite missing much of the AMA Supercross season with a frustrating wrist injury, Metty confirmed he’s been hard at work and is loving his factory Rockstar Makita Suzuki outdoors. While so much of the Aussie attention (and worldwide attention for that matter) has been on Reed of late, I have a feeling we’ll be hailing Metcalfe’s achievements in the nationals all season long. I can’t wait.

• On the subject of the outdoors and Aussies, Reed is yet to confirm whether or not he’s lining up for the season ahead. After watching some of the early races of 2010 and considering his Supercross form with TwoTwo Motorsports, I for one hope that he can meet the budget requirements to go racing – at least in a few rounds if not all!

• With the Motocross World Championship coming up at Glen Helen the weekend before Hangtown’s AMA opener, rumours are flying regarding what American teams and riders will contest the event. It’s a big ask for them to race after such a long Supercross season that features 17 races in 18 weekends, but I think some might for a bit of added practice. After all, Glen Helen is in the backyard of the factory teams!

• It was earlier confirmed that Red Bull KTM teammates Andrew Short and Mike Alessi will ride the United States GP, which got me thinking whether or not the Australian-owned JDR/J-Star/KTM satellite team would also show up for the one-off event. Turns out they aren’t planning to at this stage, but never say never…

• Another rider I’d love to see at Glen Helen is Christophe Pourcel, the Frenchman who signed with MotoConcepts Yamaha to contest the AMA nationals over the weekend. It’s a shock move for Pourcel to the team that has previously fielded Aussies Dan Reardon and Dan McCoy, but hopefully he has the equipment needed to match his talent and undeniable speed. It looks as though Pourcel will remain in FOX apparel, but there’s been no sign of Monster on his lid just yet. It also looks as though the battle of the French between Pourcel and MotoConcepts team manager/ex factory Yamaha racer/Supercross winner David Vuillemin is over too!

• Good news for MotoOnline came through this week that we will in fact be attending the second round of the AMA Motocross Championship at Freestone in Texas. After attending a couple of Supercross rounds at the beginning of the year with great success, we’ve decided to head stateside again in a bid to create some more behind the scenes features that we rarely see from home. Later in the year we also plan to go back for the season finale at Pala!

Will Jay Marmont be at 100 percent fitness for Murray Bridge this weekend?

Australian Motocross

• While much of the fanfare has been on the U.S. circuit this week, don’t forget that round four of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship, will take place in South Australia on Sunday. Murray Bridge is a favourite for many and the series hasn’t visited the track since 2009, so it’s one that we are definitely pumped for.

• Bad news came during the week that Craig Anderson will sit out the round, but the good news for Victorian talent Adam Monea is that he’s been handed the controls of Ando’s Berry Sweet Strawberries/Lucas Oil/Honda CRF450R for the weekend. Also revealed was that Jake Vella has joined the team in the Under 19s. Both have been riding with the team this week, and when I spoke to Ando yesterday he was happy with their progress on the Hondas.

• It looks as though defending Pro Open champion Jay Marmont will enter this weekend’s round under an injury cloud, the Wollongong local suffering an injured finger while testing recently. He said he’s been off the bike after trying to ride, but also confirmed that he was heading to Melbourne testing with the CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha team this week.

• If there’s going to be a weekend that we finally see Cheyne Boyd break through for a return to the winner’s circle, it has to be this one. He dominated at Murray Bridge in 2009 and should by now have his customary slow start to the season sorted, so my expectations are on a big weekend for the Carlton Dry Honda rider. His are too, and he believes if he can get out of the gate then he’ll be a certain contender for victory.

• Be sure to get your tips in for our MX Nationals Fantasy League ahead of this weekend’s race at Murray Bridge. We have custom number one plates up for grabs awarded to the winner of every single round, so even if you haven’t been in the opening rounds then you can still win prizes! Here’s the link, and make sure you spread the word: https://www.motoonline.com.au/2011/05/01/mx-nationals-fantasy-league-rd-4/

That’s all for this week, thank you as usual for stopping by!