It’s been a hectic couple of weeks in motocross, with Suzuki, KTM and now Honda officially releasing information on their 2015 models. Suzuki released theirs late last month (the 450 officially at least), then KTM at the start of this month and Honda on the same day, yesterday.

We’re not even at the halfway point of 2014 yet, but what it’s indicating is that to get the spread of a full season on a current model, consumers really have to look at purchasing anywhere between July through September (sometimes later) depending on release date.

It also creates a bit of a predicament for teams as well, because while they have their 2014 models dialled, many manufacturer models will be released before the current season concludes. The smart money says they’ll continue on with the ’14s, but never rule out an early intro of a new model.

What we’ve also seen break cover in Europe is what looks to be an updated 2015 model two-stroke range from Yamaha. We don’t have the specifics yet (or any local info), but they definitely look more modern and in line with the current four-strokes. Technically though it doesn’t look overly revised at least in Europe. Watch this space for more when we have it.

Speaking of domestic racing, the seventh Monster Energy MX Nationals round scheduled for Conondale on 13 July almost ended up being run at Coolum, according to industry sources. At Western Australia it was announced Conondale will remain, but we’ll have more on this hopefully tomorrow.

Looking for an official update on the Australian Supercross Championship? Motorcycling Australia has released minutes from its May board meeting, stating the following information and confirming that the final round has been proposed an indoor event in Brisbane.

“Whilst IEG’s exit from road racing is completed and acknowledged MA still have the matter of the Supercross Championship to deal with,” the minutes state. “IEG’s plans for the 2014 Supercross championship comprises of three events – Phillip Island (MotoGP), Bathurst (at the showgrounds at the time of the Bathurst 1000), and an indoor event at Brisbane.

“This is a concise and achievable calendar with lower financial risk than in previous years. Yarrive Konsky’s proposal for raising sponsorship needs to be documented, providing we are proceeding based on the decision made at the recent teleconference.”

I agree it looks like quite an achievable calendar (although I do have reservations about the availability of accommodation, etc, at Bathurst) and it could be a foundation to work from in future years – as long as IEG can actually afford to go ahead and deliver on any promises made. We will wait and see.

That’s it from me for this week, here’s Makker with his latest…

Earlier this week I hit up CMR Red Bull Motorex KTM’s MX2 contender Hamish Harwood for a Profiled feature. It was great to get a bit of an idea of the bloke behind the helmet. Even though he’s halfway through his second MX Nationals season, not a lot has been written about the 19-year-old, and few people in the industry know much about him.

It’s funny though, because Hamish doesn’t really seem to care. He’s at the track to do a job and to cause headaches for as many riders as he can on the track. The fact that he lives in the South Island back-blocks six hours from the nearest major city of Christchurch also helps; he’s not in the public eye between races and can disappear into the hills, work his arse off, then come out swinging the next weekend.

It’s a system that seems to be working for him, and if he keeps up his super-consistent results there’s every chance he’ll be the first rider in a long time to claim the MXD and MX2 titles in consecutive years.

Image: Jeff Crow.

With all the hullabaloo about two-strokes and four-strokes in the MX2 class this year, I’ve heard from a couple of sources now that Kawasaki is looking to reintroduce their KX250 in 2015. Former racer Jason Reed even posted a photo of it on Facebook, but for all intents and purposes, he’s shared a Photoshopped image. Will we see Kawasaki make the unprecedented move of turning back the clock and bringing the two-strokes back into the stable?

This weekend also sees popular and generally over-hyped Summer X Games blow up. After goodness-knows how long in Los Angeles, the 2014 festival will be held in Austin, Texas. There’s going to be a huge representation of Australians competing too. In FMX, Rob Adelberg, Clint Moore, Josh Sheehan, Jacko Strong and Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams have all been invited, while freestyle trials gun Jack Field, AORC heavy-hitter Chris Hollis and Kristie McKinnon will all race the Enduro X.

For me though, I’m most looking forward to the new gaming contest ESPN is introducing this year… (please note the heavy use of sarcasm here!).

Finally, today marks the five-year anniversary since Victoria’s former pro racer Bronte Holland passed away. Our thoughts are with Gunna, Sue and Grady Holland and all of the friends and crew he left behind on 4 June 2009. Rest in peace, buddy.

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