Image: Foremost Media.

The minimum requirements have been met in order to crown champions in the 2021 Penrite ProMX Championship, it has been found should the series be called following just three rounds.

A special ‘force majeure’ clause in the supplementary regulations – below – is new for this year and has been added in the case of the series ending prematurely.

11.3 In the event where force majeure prevents any number rounds from taking place, the minimum championship/s rounds to be awarded a championship will be three rounds for each class.

With Covid-19 outbreaks continuing to escalate, resulting in further restrictions and several border closures, Motorcycling Australia (MA) is facing one of its toughest challenges yet since taking on the Australian Motocross Championship this season.

This year’s champions could already be in place if MA cannot navigate forward, with CDR Yamaha Monster Energy rider Luke Clout’s victory at Maitland potentially proving to be the most pivotal win of his career after seizing the MX1 lead from previous leader Regan Duffy (KTM Racing Team).

Honda Racing’s Kyle Webster has won each overall in MX2 to dominate the championship so far, while in MX3, back-to-back wins by Blake Fox (GasGas) at Canberra and Maitland see him holding the series-leading red plate. All three categories have completed the required three rounds.

However, it’s understood that the sport’s most influential stakeholders are working feverishly to get ProMX back off the ground despite a number of rounds recently being postponed and without replacement dates being established publicly.

It’s recognised that the ProMX series itself, teams and professional riders are reliant on a full championship to be served in order to meet contractual obligations and to maintain complete levels of backing from their commercial partners.

Last year’s Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), also managed internally by MA, saw champions crowned following just three rounds being complete – one of those being a double-header in December – and the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) did likewise with only three rounds run.

The next ProMX event due to go ahead is the rescheduled Gillman, South Australia, rounds, which recently became a double-header for 4-5 September, while Wodonga, Queensland Moto Park (QMP) and the Coolum double-header are all awaiting their fate.

It appears that Wodonga could be removed from the calendar altogether to cap the series at a total of eight rounds if SA and the Queensland rounds eventuate. At this point, sources suggest QMP and Coolum will be held across the first two weekends of October, pending restrictions.

Those events would then lead directly into the first round of the Australian Supercross Championship, which remains slated to drop the gates on 16 October and also likely in Queensland to mark three-straight national events in the state.

If there are further delays, Australian Motocross Group (AMG), ProMX Management Team and commission representative Mark Luksich has indicated that we could see ProMX and AUS Supercross overlap later in the year, but such a move would be out of favour for many.

Postponements beyond the beginning of October could bring at least the beginning of AUS Supercross into doubt at that point, with motocross possibly pushing back into the final months of the calendar and condensing the timeline of a supercross series if it is to get off the ground.