Source: Supplied.

Victorian rider Jack Simpson will officially make the move to off-road racing fulltime in 2016 after contesting select rounds of last year’s Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC).

The former top MX2 motocross and supercross contender admits he was searching for something to reignite the fire and the option to become a fulltime enduro racer has done just that.

“I sort of hit a bit of a stale point in motocross,” said Simpson. “I’ve been doing it for that long that I got a bit stale, that’s why I decided to make the change to enduro, it’s re-lit my fire and I am ready to go for a full year at the AORC.”

Simpson will enter off-road events only in 2016, including the entire AORC championship, explaining that racing select motocross events would be a tough task during his rookie off-road season.

“In my agreement with KTM it was confirmed that I was either going to race motocross or enduro, as it would be to difficult to race both as a fair few rounds clash – it would be too much for my first year in enduro,” he explained. “I chose to race enduro for the year and see how I go with my results and progress and hopefully try and become successful and try something different.”

The longtime KTM rider will receive continued support from the Austrian manufacturer in 2016 with factory bonuses, bikes and a parts budget included in his contract.

“The deal from motocross was that I got a factory supported deal, which included factory bonuses, access to a parts budget and access to bikes and materials,” Simpson continued. “This year I have the same deal again with KTM at the enduro, which is awesome. It’s great to have their support again.”

Simpson will enter his rookie off-road season hoping to gauge where he is at during the opening rounds with goals of claiming podiums and eventually wins in both his own class and the outright standings.

“I will just be learning how to adapt to the track as quick as I can and after the first two rounds I’ll gauge where I stand and continue to work on my weaknesses from there,” he added. “I’m hoping to try and place in the top three of my class, and then top five outright and work on winning an outright.

“Anyone can say I want to go out there and win, but my realistic goal is to top three in my class, because that’s what I am paid to do and then work on the outrights throughout the year.”

Simspon will kick off his 2016 AORC campaign at round one and two of the series on 19-20 March at Kilkivan in Queensland.