Image: Jeff Crow.

Victorian revelation Dylan Long has secured a seat at NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki for the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship following his impressive guest appearance in the second half of the MX Nationals.

After switching from a private Yamaha to the factory-backed KX450F at round five, 21-year-old Long starred with a moto win and second overall at Nowra in a strong finish to his rookie MX1 season.

“With Jake Moss being injured and not looking like he will be returning for supercross, it was in our best interest to keep Dylan on the new 2016 model KX450,” Carroll told MotoOnline.com.au. “As he finished motocross with such great form, we thought we’d keep him on and see how he goes – we’re keen to see him ride supercross.”

Both Long and teammate Adam Monea have already began testing on the all-new latest KX450F: “The guys are on the 2016 model now and they’re unreal. We were so surprised with how good the new bike is and we’re really looking forward to racing them.”

Long’s extension comes as regular team rider Jake Moss faces an extended period on the sidelines recovering from his badly broken leg, however Kawasaki is yet to confirm its roster for 2016. It has been confirmed however that Carroll Motorsports will continue to operate Kawasaki Motors Australia’s factory program.

“At this point it’s up in the air, so I wouldn’t like to speculate on the riders,” Carrol commented. “We’ve made no commitment to anyone in 2016, but we’ve had discussions with riders and what could potentially happen. We are all done with Kawasaki for next year though and I’ve renewed the contract for years to come.”

It’s understood that the NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki team’s 2016 rider line-up could be locked in as soon as this month, making way for the team to concentrate solely on a strong supercross campaign.