MotoOnline.com.au gets some of Australia’s top coaches to predict the Super X champs.

Australia has some of the top motocross coaches in the world developing our young talent and helping to assist in the evolvement of the sport, so we though it was a good idea to grab a few of their opinions on who will win Super X in 2011.

MotoOnline.com.au tracked down Moss Institute’s Greg Moss, BCP’s Lee Hogan, MACA’s Glenn Macdonald and Y-AIM’s Shane Metcalfe to see who they think will take out the titles.

With Josh Hansen absent, Jay Marmont and Jake Moss will enter Super X 2011 as two of the favourite. Image: Sport The Library.

Greg Moss – Moss Institute

I don’t think there is anybody that stands out, especially with the formats. It’s going to come down to quite a few riders. Jay Marmont’s the strongest, so he’s in the box seat. I don’t think he’s the fastest, but to me he has every chance of winning it. Cody Mackie will be right there on the pace, because it’s do or die for him and he’ll be hard to beat. Lawson Bopping definitely will win races, but whether he can win the series, I don’t know.

Jake will be the fastest this series, but whether he can get out the gate and not make a mistake will be a big thing. Dan Reardon, if the stutters aren’t too big and there are not too many big technical jumps, I think he can win the series. Tye SImmonds is another prediction, capable of being strong, fast and consistent on the 450. Mackenzie and Blose will have speed, there’s no doubt there. As far as an actual winner, I’d go Jake Moss on speed and Jay Marmont on consistency.

In the Lites, the big one that I don’t think anybody else will rate, but I will, is Luke Styke. He’s been here training and he is fast, riding very well. He’ll take race wins off Matt, that’s for sure. To me Matt is obviously the favourite. As for Ferris, we don’t know how good that Kawasaki is, but he will be a title contender if he gets to the corner first. I can’t see him coming from the back to win unless Matt makes a mistake, but if he can get out of the gate first then he could win. I’m not sure where Gibbsy’s at with his injury, but if he’s in the right frame of mind then he has a possibility of doing the job.

He’ll definitely be a front-runner. As for the Americans, Faith and Pioletti will be fast and flashy, there’s no doubt about that. Whether they can put a whole season together, I don’t know enough about them. To me, it’ll be Styke, Ferris, Matt and Gibbs, but I’d give Matt the biggest chance at the overall.

Lee Hogan – Building Champions Program

Jay will be the strongest I think, just because I spent a bit of time with him over the last few weeks when we did a school together up there. I know he’s in really good form, almost career high at the moment. Even under normal circumstances you can’t really go much further than Jay. Blose would have to be super strong, confident from America, so he’ll be rock solid, for sure. Boydy’s in a make or break situation in his career, he has no choice and has to do something now. I reckon he’s gelling well with the bike and had good preparation, so he should feature.

Jake Moss, you could put on any bike and he’d do good if he’s fit and healthy. The Yamaha’s good, so he’ll be up there if he can keep it on two wheels. McCoy is unknown, but being on the Suzuki he should be better than he was on the KTM and could do quite good. I hope Doggy does really good and we know how well he went in America on the Lites. I’m not sure about Reardon or Simmonds, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the awesome form from Reardon. If Simmonds can get that confidence, I think he can be good.

Mackenzie was good last year in Sydney, really impressive, so he could come out and do okay. He’s always consistent in a championship, but if he can’t beat Jay in motocross then I really think he’ll struggle to beat him in supercross. We may see him up on the podium though.

In the Lites I would have loved to have seen Mosig in there with his form, but I’m hoping Cachia will step up and be a real challenger for the championship. He’s a good lad and I have a lot of time for him. It’s so hard to look past Mossy though, he’s just so confident down in the Lites class. I know how well he’s been riding with Jay lately, so he’ll be very hard to beat in the championship and at each round. Ferris could go okay, except he’s an unkown quantity in the Lites and in supercross so we’ll have to wait and see.

Clarke will go good, it’s just a matter of consistency. I think Harrison could do well at individual rounds as well, he may be a threat for the series depending on his form. Gibbs and Styke could be in the running for podiums, but it’ll be hard for Gibbsy to find that consistency when he’s easing back into it while a lot of the boys will be bringing their A-game.

Glenn Macdonald – MACA Coaching

Going from previous years you’d have to put a fair bit of weight behind Jay. I know that motocross doesn’t have much to do with it, but he’s come off a strong year outdoors and he’s shown he has the speed as far as Australia goes in Super X. I think he’ll be quick, and also Tye will be. I think he’ll be another good one, probably has unsettled business and will want to show off his newfound speed from the U.S. I’m always a fan of him, naturally because of our relationship from 2009 when I worked with the team in Super X. Jay will definitely be the one to look at – he’s very headstrong.

I’m not trying to be KTM biased in the Lites, but I think with Matt feeling good, healthy and strong, he will definitely take some beating. Kirk Gibbs has always been a darkhorse, so he could put something together. He’s done his apprenticeship so he should be stepping it up, I’d think. Styke is also a bit of a darkhorse and he’ll be expecting something from himself also. I honestly think that Matt’s just going to be the one, really strong and working on his results for the U.S. Matt and Gibbs will be good.

Shane Metcalfe – Y-AIM

From me I think that Tye Simmonds will be very strong after the season he’s had in the U.S. He did pretty good over there and should carry that into what he started here a couple of years ago. He’d be my pick for the Open class. Jay Marmont and Jake Moss are always strong regardless, while Chris Blose has that American experience in supercross. McCoy’s always there, Ryan Marmont’s always there too. They all have strong points and weak points.

I think Reardon will want to do something to make up for the last few seasons he’s had and he could surprise. I think Bopping will surprise people too, because he has good supercross talent. Mackie will be in there because he’s due for a good shot. He has the skills and ability, just needs a bit of luck on his side. The main ones will be Tye and Jay, for sure, plus Chris Blose. They’re the three I think will be up the front anyway.

Matt Moss would have to be the favourite in the Lites. His strong point is just the confidence he has from previous years, plus winning the motocross has to place him as the favourite for it. I want to say that Gibbsy will be up there, but it depends about his collarbone. He might struggle at the beginning, but he should come on strong. Harrison will do alright, especially if there are some hard pack tracks.

Styke might surprise every now and then, plus I know that Arbon has been training pretty hard for it. Guys like that can run up front, but they’re just lacking experience compared to Mossy and those guys.

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