Image: Dunlop Media.

Crankt Protein Honda Racing’s Todd Waters has today expressed his thoughts on the importance of the now returned Coolum Motul MX Nationals finals on the 2017 schedule.

It’s a ‘must-have’ event on the calendar according to Waters, who credits the event’s allure not only to the quality of the sand-based circuit, but the entire atmosphere surrounding the August weekend.

“I thought it was a bad decision to remove the national from Coolum and I think it’s a must-have on the calendar,” Waters told MotoOnline.com.au. “There’s definitely other tracks that shouldn’t be on the schedule before Coolum gets removed.

“It’s one of the real motocross tracks in Australia – it’s not like a junior track. It’s also one of the biggest rounds spectator-wise and from a promotional point of view it’s a pretty important round for motocross. I think Coolum is one of the only tracks with the whole atmosphere, everything is happening there, you stay at the beach, it’s just a really good venue overall.”

With widespread disappointment from riders and fans alike following the initial removal of the event, the MX1 overall winner of the 2016 Coolum round believes the reinstatement of the event is a step in the right direction for the sport.

“We’ve won there a lot of times and it’s a track that I do like, but there comes a point where I think it’s nice for the riders to have some influence on what goes on because it is us guys that actually have to ride the track,” Waters explained. “I’m stoked that it’s back on the calendar obviously – happy days. I’m happy it’s back and I just want to see everyone working together to improve motocross instead of everyone fighting against each other and trying to wreck it, so I think this is a good thing.”

The 2017 Motul MX Nationals season finale is set to run as originally planned on 19-20 August 2017 at the Coolum Pines MX Track.