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Australian Motocross

CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha today confirmed the end of an era, announcing that Jay Marmont has officially departed their team. It was the secret that we all know, and one that MotoOnline originally pointed toward back before Super X.

It hasn’t been confirmed where Jay is going, however he has been in Queensland testing with Monster Energy Kawasaki, and in his most recent interview with us following the SX finale he did confirm it was between Yamaha and Kawasaki for his services.

So unless anything out of the ordinary has risen in the past week, expect confirmation that Marmont will replace Dean Ferris at Kawasaki alongside Billy Mackenzie and new Lites contender Kade Mosig. Now that would be an all-star line-up with some very unique characters in the bunch.

As for CDR, who knows what is next for them. Craig Dack has already confirmed that Josh Coppins will return, and their parting announcement with Marmont hinted that they will “build and develop another champion”, according to Craig Dack.

I said last week and I will repeat it, that I believe Lawson Bopping is right in with a chance. He’s 21, has won races both outdoors and in SX as a rookie this year and proved that he can ride a 450. He doesn’t have a ride yet and deserves a chance. Combine that with Coppins’ experience and it could clearly be a team in title contention as always.

Jay Marmont has left the CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha team after four years and five titles together. Image: Alex Gobert.

What if it’s not Boppo? Well, the likes of Daniel McCoy and Cheyne Boyd are free agents right now from what I understand, but both have ridden for CDR before and may have run their course for that particular team. And then there is Jake Moss, who we all know is lightning fast, but has been struck with injury in recent years.

Moss deserves a ride and can mix it up with the best of them when healthy, but whether CDR will provide him the opportunity to replace Marmont, I’m unsure. When I spoke to Dack the other day, he definitely didn’t rule out the possibility of Moss returning. Another international could also be an option come time for supercross.

Anyhow, it’s an exciting time for the sport and something that we need to embrace as media. A change like this is the equivalent of Ricky Carmichael or Jeremy McGrath switching manufacturers during their careers while at the top of their games, so we need to respect Marmont for the challenge he has opted to take on.

In other news, I spoke to Kade Mosig today and he loves his association with Monster Energy Kawasaki already. Mosig has been up north testing with the team recently and has fully healed from his post-motocross injuries. With the guidance of Carroll, I’m positive Mosig is going to fulfil his potential in 2012 and it shows that dedication and hard work pays off.

What other Lites rides are still available? There’s the Motul Pirelli Suzuki seat, which has been linked to ‘Scuba’ Steve Clarke, while it’s all but confirmed that Kirk Gibbs will re-sign with Serco Yoshimura Yamaha alongside Luke Styke.

We broke the news last week that Ford Dale will ride for Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing, plus JDR Motorex KTM will retain both Brenden Harrison and Josh Cachia.

Many of you would have saw the interview we did yesterday with Ryan Marmont, in which he confirmed that he’ll ride the first four rounds of the East Coast Lites AMA Supercross series. He’ll likely continue if he’s doing good, which means he’ll miss at least the first three MX Nationals rounds.

Will Lawson Bopping step up to replace Jay Marmont at CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha? Image: Alex Gobert.

After that he could return to Australia and ride the outdoors, perhaps in the Lites class alongside Harrison and Cachia since he’ll already be in 250F mode. What that would mean is that we might not see JDR fielding a 350 SX-F in 2012 unless Tye Simmonds or Dan Reardon ride one.

We also broke the news earlier this week that Andrew ‘Hoppo’ Hopson’s Axis Motorsports team will switch from Honda to Kawasaki for next year and become Team Green’s official Under 19s team. His riders aren’t locked in, but expect confirmation on this early in the new year.

Where that leaves Cody Mackie and Adam Monea, we’re not entirely sure just yet. They have been linked to a new Suzuki team run by Team 07, along with Michael Addison, but I have no confirmation whatsoever of this. Mackie is in the U.S. at the moment, so we’ll await confirmation when he returns.

In other Under 19s news, we’re hearing that Jake Emanuelli will join Shaun Redhead at GYTR Rockstar Energy Yamaha, and that Luke Arbon may be retained in a Lites role following his impressive Super X performances. There’s been no word who will ride U19s for Raceline Pirelli Suzuki just yet and I honestly haven’t checked. Will have to get onto that…

By the way, check out JDR Motorsports’ Facebook Page tomorrow for a sneak preview at the Dream Ride film project they’ve been working on. It’s supposed to be epic.

That’s about it for this week as the year continues to wind down, but stay tuned for more news to come, both regarding the sport and some exciting new developments we have planned here at MotoOnline.com.au for the new year. Thanks for stopping by!

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