Image: Cameron Taylor (DMT Visuals).

A return to DPH Motorsport Yamaha and the YZ450F could be the recipe Kade Mosig requires to succeed in 2017, as he attempts to contend once again for the Motul MX Nationals and Australian Supercross championships.

Following a mixed premier class season with the factory Kawasaki team in 2016, where he finished fourth in motocross and sixth in supercross, the 27-year-old recently confirmed his return to the DPH Motorsport Yamaha team.

Part of the DPH Motorsport Yamaha squad in 2014 before going on to ride under the CDR Yamaha awning in 2015 and finishing runner-up in both motocross and supercross, Mosig’s return to the YZ450F for the upcoming season has him hopeful of a strong campaign.

“It’s a bit of a change, I’ve gone back to the Yamaha, which was easy for me having done a few seasons on it in the past,” Mosig told MotoOnline.com.au. “Getting back on it, I felt comfortable straight away, so the bike for me is suited really well and obviously spending so much time on the Yamaha I knew exactly what I needed and what I wanted to make it how I wanted it.”

In addition to returning to the familiar YZ450F and DPH Motorsport Yamaha surroundings, Mosig also relocated from the Gold Coast back to Victoria in order to optimise his completely revised program.

“It happened really fast for me getting comfortable on the bike and also lifestyle-wise, we have made the move back to Melbourne,” said Mosig. “It was hard to leave the Gold Coast, we loved it up there and coming back down here was tough, but it’s been very beneficial.

“Obviously having the team 10 minutes down the road is good for me and all of the tracks down here in Victoria are really good – they’ve really lifted the level and quality of track that we have to train on. It’s all a little bit closer down here too.

“I’ve pretty much quartered my travel time to go riding. In Queensland it was a little bit harder for me to do that, so I think for me the ball is well and truly rolling, the pre-season has been going well, I started on the bike a few weeks before Christmas, so I’ve had a fair bit of time riding it.”

Although moving on from a factory-backed outfit, Mosig believes his return to the Dale Hocking-owned DPH Motorsport Yamaha squad is a positive move and looks forward to an improved year with the team that took him to his first MX1 overall victory in 2014 at Swan Hill.

“Obviously the goal is to be on a factory team and those guys have a little extra support than the privateer teams,” he explained. “But I think Dale and the whole crew at DPH have got really good backing and it’s basically a factory team.

“They can give me all the parts and everything I need to go win races and they have won races, they know how to do it and I’ve won races with DPH. It’s a super-competitive privateer team, but it’s definitely at the factory level, so I think for me it’s a good move. As far as the team goes, the structure is great, they’ve got good equipment and like I said, they know how to win, so I feel like I’m in a really good position this year.”

A popular choice for many Australian racers during their pre-season, Mosig confirmed he will head to New Zealand to contest select rounds of the New Zealand Motocross Championship in preparation for the MX Nationals series kicking off on 2 April at Wonthaggi.

“I’ve been on the phone and contacted Yamaha New Zealand and they’re keen to help me out,” he added. “So the plan is to get over there and race rounds two and three to get the ball rolling as far as racing goes.

“I think it’s the ideal lead-up to our series to get over there and get my feet wet, see how the bike’s going and see where I’m at. Obviously the level of competition over there is really good, it’s just like what we have here in Australia. We’ll get over there and get amongst it, I think it’s a great way to lead in and be race ready come April.”