Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

The 2017 Australian Supercross Championship will see a number of privateer supercross specialists emerge for the upcoming series, which is scheduled to kick-off this weekend at Jimboomba in Queensland.

SX2 regulars Geran Stapleton and Taylor Potter will return another full-time campaign, while Victorian Sam Martin has confirmed he’ll line-up in the premier SX1 division for the opening three rounds.

Stapleton, who’s coming off a shoulder injury sustained while contesting the Canadian MX Nationals, finished last year’s series in 11th with a podium to his name, and will again continue with the same Honda-mounted privateer program with the assistance of TSroofing, Eight11 Performance and renowned suspension specialist Krooztune.

“I’m doing the whole series, and I’ve been back on the bike for about three weeks,” Stapleton told MotoOnline.com.au. “The shoulder I fractured in March turned out to be a lot worse than I first thought, and just a small tip over at round three in Canada hurt it again, so I’ve been off since then, which was in June. I’m feeling awesome now though, obviously fitness could be a little better but it’s slowly getting there.”

Absent from Australian supercross last season, Potter will make his racing return this Saturday in what will also be a Honda-mounted privateer effort that’s heavily supported by supplement company X-Drive. The Victorian, who’s been preparing for the series in America, contested the SX2 the class in 2015 before graduating to the premier class for the final round where he claimed an emotional podium result.

“I’ve had a couple of years off, so going back to the states is kind of what I needed to get up to speed,” Potter explained. “As for riding, I’m going really well and I’m really fit. With this deal with X-Drive, I really want to be pushing for podiums and being really competitive riders such as Hayden Mellross or Gavin Faith.”

As for Martin, he’ll contest the Jimboomba 1, Melbourne and Adelaide rounds aboard a privately-backed Suzuki RM-Z450, before setting off to Europe to contest the ADAC German Supercross Championship with the Team Castrol Power 1 Suzuki Moto-Base. The domestic series will serve as preparation for the former national regular in his European campaign.