The disappointment was clear for many watching Chad Reed crash out during last weekend’s Monster Energy Supercross main event, the Aussie veteran breaking three bones in the incident including his scapula, collarbone and T1 vertebra.

Considering his history and success in the sport it’d be easy for Reed to roll over and watch another championship opportunity pass him by, but instead, the 31-year-old will target a return at Texas this Saturday night – yes, you read that right.

Depending on his recovery this week, you couldn’t imagine Reedy being anywhere near his best come race day, but he’s known to have a high pain threshold and has been working hard with doctors this week.

It was actually a pretty tough round for the Aussies at San Diego, with Reed ruled out, Matt Moss having a mechanical and exiting the race, then Lawson Bopping missing on a main event berth in his final US appearance.

Moss and Bopping will now come home to Australia, hopefully with form on their side and a good ammount of time to prepare for the nationals. Moss will of course be with Suzuki, while Bopping’s yet to secure anything.

Image: Simon Cudby.

From what we understand Moss will take it easy for a week or so and then go all out in preparation for his MX1 title defence. The carrot of seeing twin brother Jake – newly-signed to Kawasaki – training hard will no doubt provide the motivation he needs to get working quickly enough.

I’ll say though, Moss was really, really impressive throughout his campaign in the US and would have made a lot of team managers stand up and take notice. Compared to last time they saw him on a 450 there, he’s proven more than capable as a main event guy week in, week out.

That’s it from me for this week, we’re a little behind today so I will hand it over to Makker for more!

So we’re still a smidge over six weeks away from the start of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals, but all Australian teams are well into the pre-season testing process.

For us media guys, there’s not a lot to report on during this period, but behind the scenes, the mechanics and riders are all try to find an extra pony or two hidden between the engine cases, team sponsors are getting locked away, and truck and bike liveries are being designed.

The opening round of the Backflips Clothing New Zealand Motocross Championship was held at Timaru on Saturday, and it was interesting to see who shone and who struggled.

For me, the most notable performance came from 2012 Australian MXD champ Kayne Lamont, who snatched the MX2 overall from defending champ Scott Columb and Serco Yamaha’s new recruit Jay Wilson. In the process, Lamont gave the reinvigorated Husqvarna brand their first national motocross victory.

Lamont’s early form has raised a few eyebrows and no doubt would’ve caught the eye of team bosses here, who are paying close attention to the series across the ditch.

Image: Chris Ritchie Foto.

Meanwhile, as he did last year, Honda’s Cody Cooper has started 2014 with a hiss and a roar, beating KTM riders Ford Dale (second) and Kirk Gibbs (fourth) and Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie (third) on his way to the overall.

Last year Coops was practically unstoppable throughout the New Zealand championship, but struggled to find the same sort of form here in Australia. With the understated Kiwi switching from Suzuki to Honda for 2014, it’ll be interesting to see how he performs at the MX Nationals opener at Broadford on 31 March.

While on the topic of New Zealand, we announced the confirmed heavy hitters who will ride the 2014 Farm Jam in two-and-a-half weeks time. 2012 Red Bull X-Fighters champion Levi Sherwood will return to the Farm after two years absence and will try and wrench the crown from his good mate Nick Franklin, while trying to fend off the likes of Brazil’s Fred Kyrillos at the same time.

As always, the Australian representation in the FMX is massive, with the likes of Truman Carroll, Pete Anderson, Joel Brown, Pat Bowden, Steve Sommerfeld and Rhys Hillier all signing up to take part in the epic natural-terrain FMX contest.

That’s about all I know this week. As always, remember to check out all of MotoOnline.com.au’s social networking channels and be sure to Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for even more behind the scenes insights. Just search MotoOnline.