International Entertainment Group, together with Motorcycling Australia, yesterday released the four-round schedule that will make up the Australian Supercross Championship in 2012 (click here to view).

MotoOnline.com.au called a variety of key industry representatives to get their take on the series and how it’s taking shape just three months out from the opener.

Can Australian Supercross turn the corner to consistent success in 2012? Image: Sport The Library.

Yarrive Konsky – Australian Supercross promoter
We have worked extensively since April when we were told the supercross championship may go to tender, pending Global Action Sports continuation. We researched demographics, geographic reach, sustainability and affordability. The calendar is the coming together of extensive research. We are confident we have the right mix and a great foundation to grow from.

The MotoGP round, which we are working to finalise in the coming days, will be enormous for the sport. We are engaging a new audience and reaching national and international corporate sectors that previously weren’t possible. It’s also a great way to profile our Australian champions. Cross brand pollination is key to growing the sport.

Jay Marmont – Monster Energy Kawasaki’s defending champion
You have to stay positive with the series, even though Global Action Sports with Super X won’t be promoting it anymore. It will be interesting to see what Yarrive, Motorcycling Australia and everyone else that’s involved in the series has planned. Obviously I think that Yarrive and everyone involved would have learnt a lot from the last few years, and I really think they are going to make it work.

I’ve seen the calendar, it looks like we’ve got some good venues and it looks like the places they’ve chosen are not going to be a problem with getting the correct amount of dirt and that kind of thing. So having a good track there I think is going to be important for the riders, as well as the fans, along with some pretty unique venues.

I’m positive about it and I think it’s going to be a great little series and I’m looking forward for it to come around, getting back on the supercross track and try to defend my championship.

If we do go to the MotoGP event, it is a passion of mine and I absolutely love it. When I could go to the MotoGP events a few years ago before Super X came along, I used to make my way there and I absolutely love it being there watching the races – I really respect those guys.

So to finally be racing at events like that is very special to me, it’s going to be awesome to check out MotoGP and also interact with all the fans that go to MotoGP. I think it’s a great opportunity and I think it’s definitely a step forward in the right direction from a rider’s point of view.

Jay Marmont won the Pro Open title from Tye Simmonds and Dan McCoy last year. All three have new homes in 2012. Image: Sport The Library.

Kevin Williams – Monster Energy MX Nationals promoter
I believe it still has to be held at that time of the year and I think that time of the year works well, having a break and then giving the riders a decent break before they go back to motocross testing.

From the riders safety point of view, the teams and the affordability for the competitors, having the motocross and supercross calendar as it is now seems to be a positive step over the last four years, and to see the continuation of that I think is the right way to go.

Josh McFarlane – MX Factory Honda team owner
I think that going to MotoGP is definitely a good start, the Newcastle round seems like it will be a good thing, but I did think that maybe the Queensland round could have been moved to somewhere like the Gold Coast or somewhere like that.

Everything looks good on paper though and I’m sure they’re hoping for bigger crowds. Hopefully they can bring a few riders over from the US, I know that we’re talking about trying to get someone for a bit more hype, so if we could do that then that would be good.

We invested money at the start of the year to do motocross and supercross, so we’re pretty aware that it’s going to be expensive as a private team. It’s always more money, more money, but we do this because we love it and the money that has to be spent, has to be spent if we want to be bigger and better for the following year.

Everybody knew that we would be having a supercross series, I don’t think anybody ever thought that we wouldn’t, so I don’t think it will affect us too much. We won’t wear out anything as much as we did for motocross, so I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a concern from a privateer’s perspective.