After Coolum I kept riding sand because I had to do the Motocross des Nations, so I kept riding motocross for quite a while and got a supercross bike in that break as well, so I rode a little bit of both. I did the des Nations and then came back and rode supercross for about two or three weeks, but we got into supercross and did a bunch of testing, with Dan McCoy as well and it went pretty good.

We went into the first round, which was good. I qualified first and then in the final I got a shocking start and then got tangled up with Matt Moss’ crash – I didn’t actually crash but I just got stuck there. I came through and that was actually one of my best rides all year, coming from around last to fourth. But it sort of goes unnoticed a bit because I was in fourth and the battle was at the front with Jay Marmont and McCoy.

So I was happy with that ride and then we went to Phillip Island and it was pretty cool. The track was really small and everything, but it wasn’t bad. The crowd was really good and it was packed out. I got about a fifth place start and got into fourth again behind McCoy, I just followed McCoy pretty much for 20 laps, and I couldn’t get around him. But that was alright as well for points.

Toowoomba, I was looking forward to, it was really cool and the track was great, but then obviously it rained. I got great starts there but then I rode probably the worst I rode all year. Well actually, the final was alright, but I got the holeshot and went down on the first lap, so I had to come through again and I ended up seventh.

Bopping was fast throughout the season, but unable to put together a solid main event. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

The last round in Newcastle, again I was looking forward to it. I fell off in the heat race and I got up and my ‘bars were all twisted. So as I went to step on to the table top my ‘bars were straight, but my wheel was facing the other way. So I stepped on and went straight to the right, landed on a tough block and went down. It wasn’t even really that big of a crash, but I went down and got caught in the clutch and the brake, which pulled all of my fingers back.

Previously to that, in the week leading up to Newcastle I went down hard in the whoops at my house. So I was pretty banged up before that, so I didn’t want to crash again and after that I was real banged up. Nothing was broken, so I ended up with a DNF and going to the LCQ. The final was rough. I had the second to last gate pick, so I had a shocking start again and ended up coming through to fifth.

At times I had great speed and stuff, but the overall results weren’t really what I was looking for, so that was a bit of a bummer. But fifth in motocross and fifth in supercross – it was a massive year. I went to America for a month, then Europe for the des Nations, so that was really cool and it was definitely the biggest year I’ve had, ever.

It was full on, but now since we’ve had a little bit of a break, I can see where I’ve gone wrong in supercross and a few things I’ve changed. But it’s all good, I got out of those series with relatively no injuries so it was a decent year.

A lot of the times I was the quickest rider, but I just never really put it together, I was just getting fourths and fifths. We’re still working on next year, I’d love to stay with Yamaha again, I haven’t signed anything but it’s all good – we’re just talking to them and hopefully will have something sorted.

Locking down a deal with the CDR Yamaha team for 2013 is top priority for Bopping at this moment in time. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Next year will be the same sort of thing, I just want to be quick, but I need to put myself in the position to be up at the pointy end a bit more. In both series I was equal third all the way to the last round, in motocross and supercross. The supercross it was myself, Todd [Waters], Chad [Reed] and I think Jake [Moss] was about one point behind or something, so it was up for grabs, it was so close.

The same with motocross, with Brad Anderson, him and I were battling and the last round it all sort of fell apart a little for me and then Cody Cooper came through and ended up getting third. So I was right there, nearly third in the motocross and nearly third in the supercross, but it just didn’t really pan out my way. But it was good, I had a lot of fun and hopefully next year is better. We’ll see.

We’ve had about three weeks off since supercross, so I’ve had some time off then and I’ve ridden a couple of times just for fun playing around. But it is a massive break before round one of next year’s MX Nationals, so I guess I’ll just sort my deal out for next year and go from there.

I’ll see what races are going on and there is the New Zealand motocross season, plus I’d love to go back to the States and do some more riding over there. I’ve just got to sort my deal out first and let you guys know from there – I’m definitely looking forward to it!