With the opening clash of the 2014 MX Nationals less than two weeks away, race teams and riders are in a frenzy to ensure everything is ready. Trucks and bikes are getting wrapped, team photo shoots undertaken and final testing completed.

Kawasaki Australia announced new sponsors and released images of their MX1 contenders Adam Monea and Jake Moss today, so we thought we’d hit up race team manager Troy Carroll to find out how everything is shaping up for the upcoming season.

Image: Simon Makker.

Thanks for taking some time out to chat with us, TC. How’s everything tracking for the new season?

I think 2014 will be a lot better season than last year. We’ve got a great team and over the off-season brought in Luke Jones as our head mechanic, and young Sam Simmonds from England also joined us as a mechanic three weeks ago.

The change as a whole has been a breath of fresh air, and from parts to testing and everything in between, everything has been really positive. A lot of our riders’ feedback from testing has also been extremely positive and we can’t wait to go racing.

You’ve changed your team roster with Jay Marmont leaving and Jake Moss coming on board. Has this switch changed the team dynamics at all?

It has and it’s been fantastic. Early this year we parted ways with Jay mutually and on good terms, and brought Jake on. It’s exciting to have the young blood with him and Adam [Monea] and it’s given the team a vibrant outlook on how we attack this season.

All test sessions have been so positive and both guys are riding well. I’m excited to see what Jake can do – he’s looking as fast as I’ve ever seen him and we’ve been able to do a lot of testing with him, seeing as he lives on the Gold Coast.

It’s been more difficult with Adam living in Victoria, but he has a year’s experience on the bike and after a couple days’ of testing in January he was so stoked with the bike and the improvements to the engine and suspension.

Both Adam and Jake are pretty intense characters on race day and both are capable of winning. Do you think in-house competition could be a factor this year?

I think it’s always a factor. There’re two roosters in the hen-house with strong personalities and both will do anything to win. I’ll never say never as far as in-house rivalries go. It happened between Jay and Adam last year and we need to control that and make sure it stays on the track. If the guys to 1-2 we won’t have to worry about it too much.

There was talk that Monster Energy isn’t backing the team this year. What can you tell us about KRT’s sponsorships for 2014?

First of all, Monster is still involved with the team for both 2014 and 2015. There were all sorts of rumours that Monster was leaving, that we were downsizing to a small truck and other bits and pieces, but if people want to know the truth they just have to give me a call and I’ll set them straight.

We do have a new major naming rights’ sponsor though, the team will be called National Pump Services Monster Energy Kawasaki. National Pump Services will be co-naming rights’ sponsors with Monster. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with them to to see their commitment to racing.

Great news, mate. Have there been any other team, sponsor or personnel changes?

As I touched on, Luke Jones, who used to work with Craig Anderson’s race team, has come on as our head mechanic and he tackles all our engine and suspension development. We had someone in a similar role last year, but Luke has really stepped up and is very motivated to improve every aspect of the bike’s engine and suspension.

We do all our engine work in-house and work still with Pro Circuit USA, and are continuing our relationship with Kayaba in Europe and Enzo for our suspension. The developments we’ve made to the suspension have been a big step forward this year. We’re really pumped to be with Pirelli for 2014 as well.

Obviously this time of year is extremely busy. Will everything be ready for next weekend?

There is so much going on that it’s difficult to keep up, but our sponsors have been fantastic and ensured everything has arrived on time. We should have our race bikes ready in a couple of days, they’ll be on display for the first time at the Brisbane Motorcycle Expo on Thursday night.

Our trucks are getting wrapped and painted at the moment, so we’re in the thick of sorting out the finer details.

Finally, what are your team’s goals for the MX Nationals opener and for the season?

As a team I don’t believe my guys should be out of the top five. The way they’re riding and have been testing has left no stone unturned. Last year we were still trying to test and improve the bikes and were behind the eight-ball, but I feel we were ready to go racing a couple of weeks’ ago and the guys are so happy with the bikes.

Adam has repeatedly called me ordering me to not change a click on the bike as he thinks he can win on it. Jake says he hasn’t felt this fast since 2009. I’m excited because my guys are so excited and I can’t see why we can’t win that MX1 title this year.

Fantastic, thanks for the insight. See you next weekend!

Sounds good, mate. See you there.