Image: MXN.

The 2018 MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship, will be reduced to eight events next year, while maintaining its traditional 10-round structure it has been revealed this week.

Williams Event Management (WEM) director Kevin Williams has confirmed mounting speculation that the series would be revamped for the new season in a bid to ensure a more sustainable model into the future.

There will be a total of eight stops on the calendar with two of those – rounds three/four and seven/eight – to be staged as double-headers during the middle part of the season. As a result, MXD will also return to being a 10-round series after it was reduced to eight this year.

“We’ve been working on 2018 since June this year,” Williams told MotoOnline.com.au. “The model is about being sustainable and affordable, so we’ve had discussions with a lot of manufacturer teams, private teams and privateers. One of the biggest costs is the amount of time you’re away from home, work or your business. Next year the series will be hosted at eight venues, it will still maintain 10 rounds and that seems to be a good number to ensure you get a true champion. We want to continue that.”

The series will again commence in April and be split into two halves, as four events will take place between April-May and the final four events will be held during July-August. Next year’s shuffle will see the championship conclude one week sooner than this year in mid-August, providing an additional buffer between the motocross and supercross series.

Locations confirmed to date include Appin as round two, Wonthaggi as rounds three and four, Murray Bridge as round five, Conondale as round six and Coolum as the 10th and final round. There won’t be a Western Australian round in 2018, after it’d been included on the calendar every second year since 2012, however it’s understood alternate options in the west are being discussed.

Coolum’s all-important championship finals on the Sunshine Coast will once again be a two-day event with a variety of categories set to compete, but remains a single round as per recent seasons. Support classes across all events are still to be finalised.

“It’s never easy to please everybody, but part of our role is that we make a sustainable and affordable championship for the majority of people – privateers and teams alike,” he added. “When you look overseas and even here in Australia, it’s absolutely important that we manage an affordable championship for the long-term.”

Provisional 2018 MX Nationals calendar (TBC):
Rd1 – 15 April – VIC
Rd2 – 29 April – NSW
Rds 3-4 – 19-20 May – VIC
Rd5 – 27 May – SA
Rd6 – 1 July – QLD
Rds 7-8 – 14-15 July – NSW
Rd9 – 5 August – QLD
Rd10 – 11-12 August – QLD