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Australian Motocross

We saw this week the provisional calendar for the 2012 Australian Motocross Championship, which will expand to 10 rounds and feature a number of two-day events during the season.

In case you missed it, you can check it out in our news section here, but we’re still awaiting the official venues to be released by Williams Event Management.

What we are hearing though is that there will be a number of new or returning tracks back on the schedule, including a couple of surprises.

What we are waiting for as well is information on the title sponsor for next season. Will Rockstar be back? Or will we see another brand step up to support what is arguably the third best outdoor motocross series in the world behind the AMA and world championships.

I like the look of the calendar for next year, featuring a nice rhythm of racing one week, a week off the next, and then back on again for the most part.

Apart from a planned mid-season break after round five, it’s going to be consistent and that makes it far easier to gain momentum from a media standpoint.

One other interesting thing that we have heard whispers of is a return to traditional 30-minute motos in the pro classes. This isn’t confirmed and hasn’t been decided upon from what we understand, but WEM is considering the option.

Australian Motocross will span 10 rounds in 2012, up from nine last season. Image: Alex Gobert.

We’re just one day from December and there are still a number of seats to be finalised. Jay Marmont is the major stumbling block at this point as both Yamaha and Kawasaki await his decision, although he isn’t giving away anything just yet. I would say that is because he himself doesn’t know.

What we do know is that new Lites rider Kade Mosig is in Queensland to make his debut with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. Marmont has already told us that he plans to test with Kawasaki before he signs anywhere, so expect him to be riding up north sometime in the next couple of weeks if he hasn’t already.

It seems almost certain that wherever Marmont doesn’t go, Lawson Bopping will (or at least probably should). He’s young and ultra talented, reminding me a lot of Dean Ferris in recent years.

Once he figures the final few things out about running up front, he’ll be a regular on the podium and battling for wins. A big bonus is that he’s proven he can ride a 450 both indoors and out.

However, we can’t forget the potential of Jake Moss, who was at CDR before injuring himself in Super X at Campbelltown. If he can stay injury free, he certainly has the speed to mix it up with anybody in this country on his day. You don’t finish on the AMA podium through luck.

Two more experienced guys without rides at this point are Daniel McCoy and Cheyne Boyd. Both have ridden for various teams in the country, and both still have speed, but they’ll be getting anxious to find a ride before the music stops.

Suzuki is yet to confirm their program, so if they have a second 450 then I’d expect McCoy to be on it.

Last weekend saw the Sydney Motorcycle Show and ADB Awards take place in Sydney, which is always a good opportunity for the industry to gather and compare notes after a long year.

We covered both in news earlier this week, so be sure to check back a few days in case you missed them.

American Supercross

Last week it was revealed that Chad Reed gained an injury at the Genoa Supercross in Italy. A crash in the first main event saw Reed hurt his thumb and foot, according to Racer X, which did in fact result in broken bones.

Luckily enough, Chad also told the boys that they’re “nothing too serious”. He should be fine for A1.

We reported yesterday that Matt Moss is on his way to the U.S. for the 2012 season, which is something that Australia should be super excited about.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a rider as promising as Mossy head over to race AMA in the current form he’s in, so we’ll be trying our best to cover his progress every step along the way.

It really doesn’t seem that long ago since Reed dominated the East Coast Lites series as a rookie in 2002 – how time flies!

Matt Moss will be looking to carry the momentum of two Aussie titles into his AMA return next season. Image: Sport The Library.

Want to see most of the 2012 tracks that the AMA Supercross series will race on next year? Go ahead and check out this link over at the official supercross website.

No doubt that many of the top riders will already be studying them and perhaps even incorporating certain sections into their team’s test tracks.

American Motocross

We received the 2012 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross calendar overnight, which will again span over 12 rounds following the supercross season when it concludes in May.

One big surprise though is that Pala Raceway has been removed from the calendar, instead replaced by a new venue in Southern California. Many in the U.S. are saying it’ll be Lake Elsinore since it’s being reopened, but we’re yet to receive confirmation on that.

That’s about all we have for another week, so be sure to stop back next Wednesday to check out the Insider for the latest information we have from behind the scenes.

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