Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

It was yesterday at the Wonthaggi Motocross Track in Victoria, the home of round one this year, that the 2017 Motul MX Nationals series was launched, revealing some of it’s biggest plans for this year’s race season.

With little over a month to go until the first gate drop of the series, riders, teams, and press were on site for the Motul MX Nationals to unveil some major initiatives as part of its 2017 program, including presenting partners, series title sponsor, fresh branding of NRGTV, all new partnerships, as well as the announcement of a virtual series.

It was confirmed that Motul will maintain its strong partnership with the championship as the official title sponsor, while Thor, Yamaha Motor Australia, Yamaha Motor Finance and Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance will once again return as round presenting partners in 2017.

In addition, there was confirmation that all major class sponsorships have been renewed for 2017, with the Thor MX1, Motul MX2 and Pirelli MXD classes all set to headline this years series.

One of the biggest announcements to come out of yesterday’s launch was that the Motul MX Nationals will conduct a ground-breaking virtual series this season, which will for the very first time enable fans to race the exact same tracks online week by week, as part of the official Motul MX Nationals computer game.

Each track of the virtual series will be digitally created to replicate the physical circuits that the Motul MX Nationals visits this year, complete with track signage, gear, trucks, as well as the opportunity to race the factory bikes of Australia’s most famous motocross teams such as CDR Yamaha, Monster Energy Kawasaki, KTM and more, online and free.

In addition to major sponsorship announcements, Australia’s star athletes were on track at Wonthaggi ahead of round round one to give the media a glimpse of their own pre-season form.

Reigning Motul MX Nationals Champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) along with championship contenders Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), KTM Motocross Racing’s Luke Styke, and 2015 MX1 champion Kirk Gibbs were just four of the high profile riders who took to the sandy circuit for the first time since 2014.

The track, which is famous for it’s deep and dark surface had it’s first run in yesterday, setting the scene for what will be a huge round one of the championship when the Motul MX Nationals heads back to the venue for the first time in three years on 2 April.

Following yesterday’s series launch, Motul MX Nationals Promoter Kevin Williams made comment on how this year’s championship is shaping up.

“Its fantastic to unveil some of the things we have been working on since August last year – everything is coming together, and we are all very excited to be back at Wonthaggi after a bit of a hiatus,” Williams shared. “Last year we had great depth of talent, particularly in our premier Thor MX1 class, but I think 2017 will be even better. We have fresh new faces stepping up onto the 450 machines, and it’s going to make every round of the championship unmissable for our fans.

“The fact that we have so many wonderful sponsors returning to support the series in 2017 really shows the strength and reliability of our championship. We have confirmed the continuation of a number of strong partnerships which we are very proud of. One very exciting aspect of this season we’ve been piecing together is the virtual series which is going to provide an all new experience for our fans. The tracks will all be digitally created to match the exact locations we are visiting, allowing our fans to play along at home, and race the same circuits that our pros do online and free.”

As well as the renewal of major sponsors and an all-new Motul MX Nationals virtual series, in 2017 the championship has also confirmed a partnership with well-known organisation beyondblue, which will help raise important awareness for mental health within sport. Today, Williams shared some of the details.

“We can’t say too much yet, but in 2017 we will be working exclusively with beyondblue at every round of the Motul MX Nationals,” Williams confirmed. “beyondblue is an organisation which is very close to the hearts of many, so we are very excited to be a part of spreading a positive mental health message within the motorcycling industry in Australia this year.

“In the coming weeks we’ll be able to reveal even more about this partnership, but beyondblue will be an integral part of each and every round in 2017.”

In addition to yesterday’s exciting series announcements, Williams also confirmed that NRGTV will once again be broadcasting every round of the Motul MX Nationals live online, with a fresh new look ‘MX Live’.

“There have been some significant improvements to live streaming technology in the past six months which we are planning on incorporating into this year’s coverage of the championship,” Williams said. “We obviously have the ability to stream live to Facebook now which many would be aware of, and on top of that we have invested heavily in some new and improved equipment to support our broadcasting package.

“We are also very excited to be launching ‘MX Live’ in 2017, which will see NGRTV become the hosting company, while MX Live will be the live stream that our viewers watch on the weekends. To celebrate the all-new MX Live, we will soon be announcing a new high profile host, which we think fans will be very very excited about.”

With the 2017 Motul MX Nationals now officially launched, fans can expect further key announcements in the coming weeks regarding more official partners joining the series, as well as some all new dynamic support classes. Round one of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals is set to take place at Wonthaggi on Sunday 2 April, 2017.