The news finally dropped yesterday confirming International Entertainment Group as the new promoter of supercross in Australia, effectively giving the sport a new lease of life and one that we hope will at least regain the consistency and popularity that the sport enjoyed in the ’90s.

All live sports are suffering somewhat compared to back then, but if consistency can give teams a strong base to work from (as the MX Nationals currently do), then that will be the first vital step to success in my eyes. It’s a big job for IEG to take on, but with Yarrive Konsky’s experience in the game and passion for the sport, the series is in very capable hands.

IEG is actually the current Australian Superbike promoter after somewhat controversially taking the reigns in 2009, and although it’s a sport that has been plagued by all kinds of agendas recently, the brand of ASBK has been pretty strong alongside the V8 Supercars.

Some have pointed at that series and said let’s hope Konsky doesn’t mess up SX like he (well, IEG) apparently did the ASBK (which I don’t agree, for the record), but this is different. Supercross is his sport, his first love if you like, and one that he knows as well as anybody.

When it comes to marketing and thinking outside the box, you only have to look at his history with the Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team to see that he has what it takes to attract support to the sport. Research has been high on Konsky’s agenda over the years to ensure his team lives on, which is something we’ll all benefit from with SX over the years.

Compared to Global Action Sports, I think we’ll see a much more simple approach. Expect to see traditional formats back, focus on our local talent in a bid to raise their profiles, and a reasonable calendar that will expand in time when the funding allows.

Supercross is back for 2012, thanks to a new deal with IEG. Image: Sport The Library.

The word is that the MX Nationals could expand to 12 rounds in 2013, which matches the AMA outdoors, so we have to be realistic when considering how many SX rounds are sustainable for teams, privateers and the industry. If we end up seeing a 12-round MXN calendar plus eight SX races, that would be a whopping 20-event schedule, but would be something I could see working down the track.

I’m already hearing whispers that there could be an alignment of races that piggyback onto other leading events, sort of like the Superbikes do at select V8 Supercars racing during the season. Imagine a V8 race by day and then a supercross by night? It could happen…

And what about sponsors? The obvious choice for a title sponsor has to be Monster Energy. Already the naming rights supporter of the MX Nationals and former sponsor of Super X, Monster has brand power that gives the sport a lot of recognition before the gates even drop. They already have a relationship with Konsky through his Honda team, so keep an eye on that possibility.

Another thing that bench racers are already pondering is whether or not we’ll see Chad Reed return. Konsky has a decent relationship with Chad and let’s not forget that he was going to allow Ben Townley out of his MXN deal to go and ride for TwoTwo Motorsports this year. Realistically though, the only way I can see Chad racing here is for a bit of fun once in a while, and from memory he’s already said he’s not coming back to AUS this year.

Focusing on this weekend’s Wanneroo round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals, things are starting to heat up and get very serious as the halfway mark approaches. This is KTM’s home round and they’ll be eager to shine, especially with Jeff Leisk fresh back from Las Vegas and on hand to watch his guys.

KTM has to be concerned with their lack of results this year in the MX1 class and I would bet money that Jeff will be keeping a close eye on riders for 2013. It may be JDR Motorsports’ ultimate decision who races for the factory team, but Jeff knows his stuff and KTM needs to ensure they have all the ingredients to do well next year when their brand new 450 SX-F is released (basically a production model Factory Edition).

Dan Reardon will be looking for improved results before the end of the season. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Both Dan Reardon and Josh Cachia have been spending time in WA and attended last weekend’s V8 Supercars race at Barbagallo Raceway, so they should be well prepared to get at it on Saturday and then again when the races kick-off on Sunday. By the way, JDR riders have scored the holeshot in all nine MX2 motos so far this season between Cachia and Ryan Marmont!

Jay Marmont has been in WA all week and he’s even set to do some training with world class boxer Danny Green while he’s there. Marmont and Monster Energy Kawasaki have underperformed so far, but we must remember that he’s known for fast finishes and he’s also coming off a pre-season knee injury. As the current Manjimup 15,000 champion, he knows how to ride in WA sand.

Speaking of renowned sand riders, Craig Dack told me yesterday in a quick conversation just how impressed he was with Josh Coppins during a test at Rosebud following Wonthaggi. After spending much of his career living in Belguim near Lommel, the Lizard has to be pre-race favourite and I for one can’t wait to see him go.

Coppins will actually head over to WA today as well, because for those guys coming from New Zealand, it’s actually a massive time difference and their chances of getting real jetlag is high. So he’s heading over early, getting acclimatised and will no doubt be ready to race come Sunday.

While those guys, plus a heap more already training over there in WA, it was a surprise to see Dan McCoy out riding a Suzuki RM250 two-stroke at Appin on Saturday. He was again on the bike on Sunday, rather than preparing for the sand on his usual H&H RM-Z450. He’s a rider who excels from keeping things fun though, so maybe it’ll pay off.

If you actually take a close look at McCoy’s bike during races this year, you will see that he has a Honda front-end on the bike he competes on. Everything from the forks, fender, number plate and wheel are from a Honda, which is why he has a black front-end on his race bike (you can’t get a Honda guard in Suzuki yellow apparently!).

Lets hope the travel and responsibilities of running a team don't affect Tye Simmonds' results. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Simmonds Racing/Red Bull/Honda’s Tye Simmonds took the opportunity to drive over to WA this week with his father and privateer regular Corey Lucas, which has to be one of the tougher points since forming his own team this year. Team Simmonds would be used to putting in the kays after coming from Bourke throughout Tye’s career though, so I guess you could say it’s back to old times for those boys. Lets hope it pays off with some strong results!

The MX Development class won’t be in action this weekend due to the long travel, which gives families from some of the sport’s best rising stars their longest break in the series yet. The halfway mark will be met one week later at Murray Bridge in SA though, where the MXD boys and girls will be back in action.

Following the halfway break throughout June we’ll see a rapid second half of the season put into effect, but sources and pit speculation says that the Barrabool round is now uncertain. If it doesn’t go ahead as scheduled, we predict Broadford will take over as the final Victorian round on the schedule.

One of our biggest news stories we’ve had in a while came just yesterday in the form of James Stewart signing for Suzuki. It’s going to be interesting to see, that is for sure, but lets hope that Aussie Brett Metcalfe doesn’t lose any attention in his side of the rig as he gets set to shine outdoors. For more from the U.S, check back tomorrow for The Matthes Report.

That’s all for this week’s Insider column, thanks for reading and remember, stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter social networks for all the fun stuff between the lines. Not everything makes the site, but plenty is filtered on through those means of networking.