I hope everyone is feeling well rested after the long weekend and a short working week! Alternatively, I hope everyone has recovered by now from the long weekend, especially if you’re a Sharks fan. We’re now under one week out from round two of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship and I personally spent some time this week contacting various riders who ran into issues during the opening event.

One rider I spoke to was Lawson Bopping, the guy has had a horror season to date, plain and simple. He kicked off his 2016 season with an awesome showing in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship before a mystery illness struck him down and forced him out of the 2016 Motul MX Nationals series. At that time, right after the Broadford round, I spoke with Bopping about the illness and this week my conversation with him was unfortunately a near carbon copy.

Following the Broadford event, Bopping mentioned he just ran out of energy during his motos, he had nothing left. That was back in May, we’re now in October and he’s still facing the same issues, you have to feel for the guy. He’s one of the most likeable riders at the track, puts in the hard work and has the talent to back it up, it’s a very unfortunate situation for the DPH Motorsport Yamaha rider.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Bopping’s situation could stem from many things, I’m no doctor or health expert at all, but we’ve seen similar situations in the past where riders just hit walls. It truly can ruin a riders’ career if they can’t work out exactly what is happening and find a way to cure the problem. Let’s hope Boppo can tackle this issue and return to his regular form, because when that guy is on, he’s seriously impressive to watch on a motorcycle!

That’s all from me this week. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, be sure to stay safe and most of all, have fun! Here’s Jeremy…

Toowoomba’s second round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship has drawn another week closer, and if their social media updates of the circuit are anything to go by, it looks like we’re going to be in for a treat!

From what I can gather, the Toowoomba Showgrounds looks like an ideal venue to hold the event, and I honestly can’t wait to check it out next week. The track crew has been boasting about a 110-metre rhythm section, so they’re obviously leaving no stone unturned to ensure they deliver a world-class circuit.

It also looks like we’ll have an additional American behind the gates for the remainder of the season following the announcement of Chris Alldredge replacing injured athlete Dylan Long at Crankt Protein Honda Racing. Now first off all, I’m disappointed to see Long sidelined for the series, I was really looking forward to see what he was capable of in supercross, especially because injury ruled him out of last year’s championship too.

Image: Simon Cudby.

The second thing I wanted to touch is the repetitive conversation that always appears every time an international rider is drafted into an Australian team. It’s an interesting topic, however I think a lot of people are being unrealistic on which local riders they think would be better alternatives. In most cases, it’s riders who already have a deal together – whether it’s manufacturer support or not – or riders who haven’t had an adequate amount of race time under their belt this year.

I’m not saying Alldredge is the best option, seeing as he hasn’t raced a 450 fulltime, or a Honda for that matter, but he is in race shape and has been contesting one of the most prestigious championships in the world while on one of the most respected teams in the industry. Teams are business’, so I’m sure this was a calculated decision from management at the Honda team.

Make sure you check out all of MotoOnline.com.au’s social networking channels and be sure to Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for even more behind the scenes insights. Just search MotoOnline.