Defending MX Nationals champion Jay Marmont welcomes Coonabarabran to the calendar. Image: Alex Gobert.

Round six of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals will take place at an all-new circuit for the Australian Motocross Championship at Coonabarabran in New South Wales next weekend on 19 June.

The 2.988-kilometre circuit at the Goanna Tracks Complex will put Australia’s best riders and teams to the ultimate test come race day, with lap times spanning over three minutes in length for the best in the nation.

Australian rising star Dean Ferris, 20, leads the Rockstar Energy Pro Open category into round six, just nine points ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Billy Mackenzie.

Scotsman Mackenzie has steadily been climbing the championship ladder following an early-season injury, while New Zealand’s former world number two Josh Coppins (CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha) makes for a truly international top three to date in 2011.

The top five is currently round out by consistent Victorian Cheyne Boyd (Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing) and defending triple champion Jay Marmont (CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha), who won the prestigious Manjimup 15,000 event in Western Australia last weekend.

All five remain in title contention just past the halfway mark of the series, the quintet separated by 55 points with a total of 400 points still up for grabs in the final four rounds.

Winner of the most recent round in Toowoomba, Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Cody Cooper, will once again be a contender for the victory at Coonabarabran, however he sits eighth in the series to date after sustaining injuries to his ribs and lungs in round two.

Marmont has spent time out at the Goanna Tracks Complex recently, explaining that it’s a fresh new circuit that will add even more character to the MX Nationals schedule.

“Coonabarabran is a bit of an unknown track for all of the riders, but from my experience there it’s going to be a good round for the series,” 28-year-old Marmont said. “The first part of the track is kind of loamy sand, and then as you reach halfway on the track over the other side of a quarry, it’s more natural terrain up a hill and really flows fast.

“The best lap time I could do around there was over three minutes, so it’s a long track, with plenty of obstacles including big whoop sections, big jumps and lots of high speed sections. It’s going to keep us on our game and will create close racing, that’s for sure.”

The Motul Pro Lites points race is also tightening up, with early runaway leader Matt Moss fighting to recover from a fractured shoulder blade sustained last month.

JDR Motorex KTM’s Moss maintains a sizeable 27-point lead in the series over Murray Bridge victor Kirk Gibbs (Serco Yoshimura Yamaha), while most recent round winner Daniel McCoy (Rockstar Motul Suzuki) will also be looking to make further inroads on the championship.

In the Pirelli-backed Under 19s development category it’s Raceline Pirelli Suzuki’s Errol Willis who leads the way by 51 points, chased by arch-rival Luke Arbon (GYTR Rockstar Energy Yamaha) and his teammate Shaun Redhead.

Round six of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals will be contested at Coonabarabran in New South Wales on Sunday, 19 June. Practice and qualifying will commence at 8:30am with the official opening ceremonies taking place at approximately 10:30am.

Visit www.mxnationals.com.au on the web for complete series and round information on the 2011 season, the official series website recently undergoing a major overhaul from the ground up.