The domestic motocross season comes alive this weekend with the opening round of the 2015 MX Nationals at Horsham, where tomorrow, we’ll be able to see who has got it right over the off-season and who will have work to do following the first round.

For many, as we say every year, Horsham will be clouded by some nerves and that could lead to some surprises come time for the motos, but we will have a definitely get a good indication where everybody’s at in the early part of the season.

On paper there is so much talent packed across all three of the championship classes – MX1, MX2 and MXD – which has this title race shaping up as a close one over the 10 rounds.

That was proven via the varying predictions we posted from industry experts in The Point feature posted on Thursday. It truly is hard to pick the winners.

In terms of the teams, we’ve had many comments this year on social media regarding the quality of the presentation in what bikes we’ve seen so far. Every year it’s as though teams step it up and this year’s bikes would have to be the best that I’ve seen to date.

Image: Alex Gobert.

Our coverage this year will hopefully be an improvement on the past as a heap of our regular features have been tweaked and, pending the internet availability at the tracks (last year was plagued majorly by a lack of working Wi-Fi), our updates across the course of a weekend will be more frequently posted both on the site and on social media.

What should work fine is the live streaming of all motos through NRGTV, which you can view right here on MotoOnline.com.au throughout the entire season. I’m excited to see the developments made and, fingers crossed, it’s expected to be a quality platform to watch domestic motocross online.

Later on this afternoon we will film the first Thor Bench Racers of the year (but it may not air until next week for round one), which returns for this season in a panel show format to be streamed online, and these add a lot to the sport.

It’s an opportunity to chat to some of the sport’s identities on air and also share the latest direct from the pits in the lead-up to race day.

So it’s on target to be a phenomenal year and I’m excited to see who stands where. Pretty much all of the anticipated contenders are said to be going fast in training at their local tracks, but the real test comes tomorrow during the first pair of 30-minute motos this season.

That’s enough from me for now, here’s Makker…

Well it’s finally here! We’re sitting on the verge of what’s promising to be another enthralling chapter in the ongoing saga of the MX Nationals.

This round at Horsham is shaping up to be a doozy, with the club putting in a shedload of work to bring the track up to grade.

Admittedly Horsham isn’t my favourite track in Australia, but I spoke with Kevin Williams earlier this week while he was on a track-walk and he said he hadn’t seen such a well-prepped track in years.

This week I spoke to a number of people for a The Point feature on who people thought would be the big players this year, and it was interesting to hear the different points for and against each of the riders and where they’re sitting at the moment.

One of the biggest question-marks remains over Matt Moss and whether he’s up to speed yet after his shoulder injury earlier this year, and if he’s not up to speed, how long it’ll take him to find himself in race-winning positions.

The other big unknown is Dan Reardon. Some people I talked to had big tickets on the returning racer, but for the most part, people were on the fence and were playing a “wait and see” game on how Reardon will perform.

From what we can gather, there will be a couple of big-name race regulars missing from the start gate this year. Josh Cachia has been off the radar completely and from what we’ve heard, won’t be lining up this year.

Image: Alex Gobert.

Another is Sunshine Coast’s Brock Winston. A regular top 10 racer in the MX1 class last year, Brock hasn’t so much as looked at a moto since the final race of the 2014 MX Nationals. He’s been working full-time and won’t be playing a part in this year’s proceedings.

And then there’s Errol Willis, who turned a fair few heads this year with some impressive results on his privateer Yamaha YZ250.

Willis is the latest in a string of motocross racers who have turned their attention to the off-road scene, and rode for the Sherco at the AORC opening round.

However, even with those guys missing from the start gate this year, the depth we’re looking at across the MX1, MX2 and MXD classes is pretty damn incredible.

There’re at least six to eight guys in all classes who could win races if they get a good start and that’s going to make for some killer racing this season. Bring on tomorrow!

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