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Australian Supercross

One more piece of the Monster Energy Super X, Australasian Supercross Championship, puzzle fell into place this week as MotoOnline.com.au broke the news of Daniel McCoy stepping up to the 450 Class for Rockstar Motul Suzuki.

McCoy will ride the team’s lone RM-Z450 in the Pro Open ranks during Super X, which has to be a relief of sorts for him after not quite meeting expectations in the outdoors on the Lites bike. McCoy could be a dark horse for wins this year, a supercross specialist of sorts who knows this is crunch time for his career in a lot of ways.

The opportunity came for McCoy after it was revealed Brett Metcalfe wouldn’t be allowed to return home by Suzuki in the U.S. They’d prefer him to remain in California and focus on testing for the AMA season, which will be an important sophomore year for him in the Supercross Class over there.

So with all that in mind, it begs the question of who will ride the Lites bike for Suzuki in Super X? Some have said Under 19s MX champion Errol Willis will, but team manager told us that they are in talks with an American-based rider and will almost certainly go down that path.

Who will it be? Well, if it is a current Suzuki rider you’d have to say it will be somebody like Martin Davalos, who rides for the factory-supported Rockstar Energy Suzuki Lites team over there. Development isn’t as crucial for their Lites program, so I don’t see Suzuki having too much of a problem with Davalos or his teammate Ryan Morais coming down under.

Daniel McCoy won the Toowoomba round of Aussie Motocross, now he's Rockstar Motul Suzuki's lone Pro Open rider for Super X. Image: Alex Gobert.

The news that PJ Larsen is out with a fractured neck was disappointing this week, but even more disappointing for Aussie fans as there was word of him coming out to race a round or two of Super X. Remember, Larsen is the current Lites champion in Super X over here.

Both CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha and Monster Energy Kawasaki have been building up their 2012 model bikes of late, getting them ready for Super X. Kawasaki has the most development to do with a heavily revised model, but they’ll need to wait for confirmed rider Billy Mackenzie to return from Europe before they can commence testing.

By the way, you can bet the guys at Team Green over here were relieved to hear BillyMac escaped any serious injuries in his frightening crash while riding the British GP last weekend.

American Motocross

There’s been nine rounds down, three rounds to go, in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship so far in 2012. This weekend is Southwick, the lone sand track of the year, although Freestone was pretty soft earlier this year as well.

It’s make or break for Australia’s very own Chad Reed at this point. He needs to finish the season like he started, with a string of wins if he’s to catch Ryan Villopoto for the title. Anything can happen in motorsport though, so the TwoTwo definitely isn’t giving up yet.

Chad has continued to keep things fun despite his recent tough times on track, and he’s found himself a handy training partner in 250 Class leader Dean Wilson at Compound 22 in Dade City, Florida. Hopefully this most recent weekend off has Reedy right back where he needs to be.

There has been speculation ever since PJ Larsen found fractured vertebrae in his neck that Matt Moss would step onto his JDR/J-Star/KTM for the final three AMA outdoor rounds. According to sources within the team, as we reported yesterday, it’s not happening. But, I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of this…

Instead, we’re likely to see American Chris Plouffe aboard Larsen’s bike during at least the final two outdoors, and he’s already been riding the bike in California this week. That’s what the guys on Vital MX are saying anyways!

Big changes are said to be on the horizon for the JDR team next year, although we still haven’t got a complete handle on what’s going down just yet. As our man in the U.S. told us recently, look for the team to run three Lites riders including Larsen and Moss. As for the third, that’s anyone’s guess. As for Tye Simmonds’ future, that’s again anyone’s guess right now.

Australian Off Road

The Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship will head to South Australia this weekend, where Ballard’s Yamaha’s Chris Hollis will be doing all he can to fend off a charging Toby Price. Defending champion Price is fresh off a fourth place in E2 at the ISDE, but he had much of the limelight snatched from him over there by Yamaha’s Matt Phillips.

There’s been a long time between drinks for the off-road boys when it comes to the AORC, so no doubt they’ll be fired up to make things happen this weekend.

Some good news for the Motorex KTM Off Road Racing team is that Ben Grabham has been cleared to ride, albeit with a brace, and he says he’s at about 70 percent fitness following his Finke Desert Race crash that saw him suffer a badly injured hand. Stay tuned for more on that in a news story tomorrow.

As always, keep an eye out across the weekend for news and we’ll be certain to cover the race to the best of our abilities as we get a hold of the news from down south. Good luck, fellas!

By the way, I spoke to Australian Josh Strang on the phone last Friday and he said he’d be keen to do a round of the AORC or two in the future, but would need his equipment from the U.S. to do so. What he’s actually more interested in doing is joining Price and co. at the ISDE, hoping to boost Team Australia onto the podium in 2012 if his schedule allows. That would be great to see.

Good news for Ben Grabham fans is that he'll be back for South Australia's AORC round this weekend.

Freestyle Motocross

Just days remain until registration closes for Red Bull Lost and Found, a unique dirt bike treasure hunt that will take place around the country in the lead-up to Red Bull X-Fighters.

Red Bull announced recently that they are doing a unique competition of sorts in the lead up to next months X-Fighters finale in Sydney, involving trail bike riders in what will be a dirt bike treasure hunt. Prizes up for grabs include tickets to the X-Fighters, a signed set of Robbie Maddison’s gear and even a Swatch watch!

Head to www.redbull.com.au/lostandfound to register for a chance to join the Red Bull Lost and Found search party. There will are crates ‘missing’ in NSW, QLD, VIC and WA, so whatever you find from the cargo will be yours to keep in a series of group trail rides organized through trail bike tour companies.

Registration closes on 29 August and all you need to do is tell Red Bull in 25 words or less ‘What’s the worst thing you’ve lost and best thing you’ve found?’ In order to register you’ll need a current Australian motorcycle license, registered bike and all the appropriate safety gear.

Anyhow, that’s all we have for this week, but with a massive few weeks coming up in the world of motocross, stay tuned for more industry-leading content as we get it over the next few weeks!

For now though, I’m off to the 2012 Yamaha YZ250F launch in Queensland – lets hope the weather behaves for us…

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