The hottest topic in the sport right now has to be the Troy Bayliss Classic, an interesting event for off-road enthusiasts since Motorex KTM Off-Road Racing teammates Toby Price and Chris Hollis will be pitted against some of the world’s best riders in multiple disciplines on 19 January.

Hollis, a two-time Australian Off-Road Champion, had some ultra quick company last weekend at Taree’s Old Bar circuit, including triple Superbike World Champion Bayliss himself, plus MotoGP race winner and Supersport World Champion Chris Vermeulen.

Add in the likes of dual Australian Superbike Champion Jamie Stauffer, his new factory Honda Superbike teammate Josh Hook, and World Endurance regular Damian Cudlin, and you’ll soon see just how great this event will be.

The names mentioned above are just some that took part in last weekend’s initial shakedown, because come race time, there will be more – Gary McCoy, Broc Parkes, Josh Waters, Wayne Maxwell, Troy Herfoss, Dan Reardon, Stephen Gall, Anthony Gunter, Paul Caslick, Vaughan Style, to name the majority.

That’s two-time AORC champ Chris Hollis fending off SBK champion Troy Bayliss and Chris vermeulen, preparing for the Troy Bayliss Classic.

For Hollis, the chance to ride with road racing royalty last weekend was just the start of a thrilling few weeks to come. He’s got a Supermoto-style KTM 450 SX-F to ride, which is a far different animal than the 350 EXC-F he rode for much of 2012 in off-road.

You’ll notice in the images that he’s only wearing his usual motocross apparel for now, but that will be switched come race time for some leathers just like his road race opponents. Think this race is a bit of fun? Every single one of these guys are competitive buggers, young or old!

Hollis has been right there from the start when it comes to preparation, so he should be well prepared next month to race amongst these guys. We can’t wait to see Price in the mix either. The fact that the pair of them have been invited by a legend such as Bayliss himself shows the popularity and recognition that our off-road stars have built for themselves.

Apart from that in the world of off-road, we await the confirmation of Yamaha’s AORC set-up in the post-Ballard era. The big money is on motocross team CDR Yamaha taking the team over, or at least heavily assisting in development of the bikes, but we are yet to see any announcements.

The Troy Bayliss Classic will feature an all-star line-up in January, including Hollis and KTM teammate Toby Price.

While the experience of Geoff Ballard is always going to be hard (or should I say impossible!) to replace, having a professional team like CDR in charge of the off-road operation would be the next best thing and possibly even better when it comes to generating interest/exposure.

Regardless of what happens, the sport is thriving at the moment with great talent, top teams and quality events from a professional to a club level. Australia’s results at the International Six Day Enduro is just the start of big things to come, I believe.

Speaking of Yamaha and enduro, they’ve this week announced a new date of the Yamaha King of the Enduro X, to take place at Gillman Speedway in South Australia on 27 April, 2013. Check out our breaking news for more on that.

By the way, just before we wrap this up, check out the below interview of Jessica Gardiner on Fox Sports News recently, speaking about her 2012 campaign. Unfortunately she broke her collarbone this week and will today undergo surgery, so best of luck in your recovery! She’s a real talent to keep an eye on for Australia.

That’s all for this year with the Yamaha WR450F Off-Road Observer, thanks for stopping by and we’ll be back early January for more in the off-road world, albeit in a slightly different format. See you next year!