It’s been a pretty hectic couple of days on the domestic front here in Australia, with Motorcycling Australia finally releasing details of the 2012 Australian Supercross Championship.

A four-round series will be conducted, beginning mid-October and concluding mid-November (click here for complete details as reported yesterday). The thing is, MA first released the schedule with round two at the MotoGP event on Phillip Island.

It received mix responses at first and still is, but then all of a sudden that round was erased from the calendar, TBA’s were noted all-round and suddenly the MotoGP event wasn’t so certain.

Benefits are needless to say. Staged alongside the country’s biggest two-wheel event, having a supercross round on the MotoGP weekend is genius when it comes to attracting new fans to motocross. Anybody who says they are ‘different’ fans is well off the mark and I believe that the crossover is alive and well.

However, expenses will soar on the grand prix weekend for the most part. Hotel prices inflate, flights do also in some cases, and so do many various other things. As a few people I spoke to today said though, many things are expensive in the sport, including the mammoth trip to WA that we had for the MX earlier this season.

Further information on the future of Australian Supercross was unearthed yesterday. Image: Sport The Library.

Phillip Island is under three hours from Melbourne and there are plenty of towns along the way before you arrive on the Island, so there’s always the option to stay a bit further away from the event if people are looking to save costs. Otherwise, make a weekend of it, enjoy the GP and see Casey Stoner contest his last ever race on home soil. That’s what I’ll be doing!

What the industry needs to figure out is whether or not the benefits gained from the MotoGP event will be worth the expense. Personally, I’m hoping that they will, but I have a feeling that we won’t truly see the results until the evening of the race – if it does indeed go ahead.

Back to the calendar for a second, and the puzzling thing is why did MA release it and then pull it so suddenly to remove Phillip Island? All signs point toward it being the simple fact that the Australian Grand Prix Corporation will announce it first, maybe as soon as this week. Once that’s done we can expect MA to confirm.

I’m hearing other things at this stage though as well, including the revision of the final round currently scheduled for Toowoomba. We’ll see what happens there, but sources indicate that this series is still being massaged into place as we speak.

I’ve had confirmation today that there will be an Arenacross series that will back up rounds one and three, as well as possibly the fourth. It will be intended for an expanded number of classes on a tamed down track, serving as a development platform for those who are looking to compete in supercross down the track.

As for the classes so far scheduled to take part in supercross, we’re hearing Pro Open, Pro Lites, Under 19s, Junior Lites and Junior up to 150cc (85cc two-strokes and 150cc four-strokes).

Tracks will be American style, meaning they’re going to be the real deal, and the formats will be traditional throughout the series – many will be absolutely stoked on that! We saw the traditional formats at last year’s Ipswich finale and I for one thought it was as spectacular as any.

Can Brad Anderson or Todd Waters put the pressure on Josh Coppins when MX resumes next weekend? Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

We’re already hearing plans for next year and some are saying there could be as many as seven rounds scheduled. IEG or MA haven’t confirmed at all, but it’s obvious that the four rounds we have in 2012 will basically lay the foundation for the future.

While supercross is in the works, I know that Williams Event Management’s Kevin Williams is currently head down, tail up, planning the final five rounds of this year’s Monster Energy MX Nationals. It’s all systems go next weekend at Hervey Bay and no doubt we’ll see some improved form by many once the gates drop.

Williams has also already been planning the 2013 season and it’s believed that he’s using the second half of this year as a test bed of sorts ahead of next year. Race commentary will be expanded, social networking will be revised and a few little other things will basically refine what already is a very impressive series.

Monster Energy Kawasaki has held a series of dealer releases for the 2013 KX250F of late, including one today in Queensland. Kade Mosig and Troy Carroll were on track with the dealers, but Jay Marmont is currently off the bike after returning to hospital last week. The question has to be asked… will the defending champion be ready for Hervey Bay? Watch this space.

That’s it for today’s MotoInsider, thanks for reading and remember, if you’re looking for some US updates from behind the scenes, check back tomorrow for Steve Matthes’ ever-popular Matthes Report direct from his base in Las Vegas.