I think a lot of the flack is uncalled for from most angles (not speaking about Chad). I do understand where Chad is coming from since he was personally involved in boosting the series back when Super X was launched with his name all over it. I don't know what happened there exactly, but it's easy to see that it wasn't a very happy ending.

As far as the series goes, the truth is that one day it will need to stand on its own two feet without Chad riding. I'm all for him racing on home soil and love to see it, but apart from him and the other Aussie internationals, I don't believe we need the secondary U.S. riders (everyone apart from the few top guys) here to make the series credible.

It's great to have them, for sure, but Super X as a series should not have to revolve around those guys to bring in a crowd. I'd do anything and am currently working hard to help the likes of Marmont, Simmonds, Bopping, McCoy, Waters, Moss and all of those guys more identifiable with the local fans. Jay is doing a great job of attracting fans and making a name for himself, so the series really needs to work with him especially to prove we have our own heroes on home soil.

I don't think a moto savvy promoter is the answer because Kev Williams is quite hands on as general manager, but there are all kinds of options that can and probably would make the event better (much of which I hear comes down to budget etc). Slashing ticket prices may be an idea, but then again what if it doesn't work? I'm not sure how much NRL tickets cost, but something in that ball park might be something fans can relate to (although we have to consider the cost of hosting a SX compared to running a footy match).

Personally, I'll just keep doing what I do at this end, try my hardest to help the sport succeed and shine a positive light on the matter. The sport needs support from the industry and local media, because if us dedicated publishers don't back our sport and give it recognition, who will? The teams are exceptional, fans who attend basically always well behaved with a good atmosphere, and riders world class like you said Doova.

I think this year will be pivotal. One thing that I can see in Australia compared to the U.S. is that our MX series is pretty much the pinnacle and only seems to be growing year in, year out. It will be interesting to look back on this in three to five years time, hopefully the results are positive!

I think the events have been pretty good aside from the rain you cant control that - i would pay to go watch even if i wasnt working at the event. I dont think its a price thing - i dont have kids, but i would think i would still pay regardless (might just have to wait a few years my perspective might change a little haha)


i have read a few articles on Super X and one in particular was just rubbish.. just talked about negative stuff that didnt even need to be brought up – they should have been hyping up the series - especially on the eve of the new SX season starting..

you dont see that in the US or even in Europe.. from what i have read in that magazine it was stupid! if every magazine/website did that soon there wouldnt be any event to write about, they can go back to testing some trail bike and why the events in Australia suck and no one is willing to put money into it or even go to the event. –
The whole idea would be to get people excited and motivated enough to turn up – isn’t it? Or am I just stupid??

The only negatives i can really point out with Super X is that 1.the formats are confusing as to see who actually is winning and it cheapens the sport by those formats i believe. i dont mind the 1 on 1 style events that was pretty cool - but it needs to be followed by a traditional style race.

If the formats are done that way so it is entertainment for the crowd then the promoter should be paying these carnys to go put on a show - thats not going to happen so just go back to what works.

And the other negative is 2.There doesnt seem to be any conflict or rivalry between the racers - that comes down to the riders essentially, and i can understand why there is not much of it going on - reason being the industry is so so small and if you clean someone out on saturday night, there is a good chance you wont have a place to ride and train on Monday.
(like at the first round Reardon went past Marmont shaking his head – I didn’t see anyone really bring anything up? That would have been at least a start to try and get some kind of rivalry started)

They are the only two things i can really fault the Australian Supercross on

Tracks have been real good.
racing has been good.

As far as the promoter thing goes as you mentioned Doova – I agree with Alex there, Kev is pretty hands on there and these guys have promoted Crusty and Nitro and numerous other events and done well – I think there needs to be a bit more hyping up from the media.

I wont be in QLD when the SX is on at Ipswich, so am sorry to say i'll miss it. I would probably have taken the kids. General admission would be $59 for adult and $29 for eaach kid, so i'd be $205. Way more if we wanted Gold or Platinum seats ($89 or $99 ea and no kid price).

I would pay this and i'm sure, have a good night. Despite it being in Ipswich and I live on the GC.

Question is - What would I have paid to go to Crusty Demons or Nitro Circus? I'm sure alot more. And, how many people do they get to those? Even guys who know nothing about bikes come out of the woodwork to go to those shows.

Is it a timing issue with the rain? I know changes is timing of the series would be a major, and particularly with the great MX series we have here, and you wouldn't want to muck that up.

SX ran so well for so long,american riders or not. The first year of SuperX seemed like the real start of something special for our sport.. The weather completly ruined its survival,I think Dec,Jan,Feb is a better idea! I also think the promo of our sport is crap and to me its definatly not only Kev that has a lot to answer for in this area. MA and all the controlling bodies,the clubs our Media pros and even the riders are to blame here.

I think its awesome that AG and Streeter have stepped up with all the video's, results, twitter & facebook info. Its informative and good quality which is exactly what the sport needs.

I went to campbelltown with my spectators hat on, sat in the stands and had a few beers. The racing was great, all the riders turned it on for the crowd, I thought the track was fine considering the broad range of aussie riders we have out there, and everything in and around the pits was very professional.

The entertainment factor was a massive let down, alot of people would say there was no "bullshit" but i think the "bullshit" is sometimes what makes the show. Opening ceremonies was a non-event with almost no intro, no crazy hot laps or anything to gain attention from the crowd, no fireworks, no laser show, and not much effort to create an atmosphere. I couldnt hear a word out of the sound/speaker system, so in-between the racing was a bit boring. The formats were confusing and the only way to get results both at the event and after was to follow @motoonline on twitter...

I wrote a story somewhere else, with a bit more opinion, if AG is cool with it ill post the link when it goes up tomorrow? or pass on the story and post it on here somewhere?

Yeah mate, post what you like! We are fine with links to informative sources of info

I agree, lack of entertainment in the intros is a real let down. What ever happened to the 'Spokettes' dancing? Haha! Hot laps like in the U.S. would be unreal.

I've heard a few friends this year say they miss the big screens, but I guess that's due to not having live TV. Still, it can't be too expensive to have them linked to rider podium interviews etc.

Thanks for sharing the opinions, keep it up!

I think the most entertaining thing is the HnH pit!

I have missed the start of the night shows and didnt realize that they didnt do much of an intro - do the riders do a lap with their helmet off with an intro from the commentators anymore?? - i thought i just missed that stuff because i was in the pits when the night show started.

would be cool to see a Kevin Windham style transfer to start the night off! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXHhqI1cf-g


Big screens can be pricey probably around 50K + from memory when we did it for Yarrives Supercross at Dapto. and then the carry on that goes along with it probably ends up being closer to 60K for the night.

The main thing that i think is wrong with the current superx setup is the formats. Im sure these were brought in to make it more exciting or more action or something along those lines to bring in new spectators , but it has basically just turned away alot of the diehard supporters. We dont wanna see survivals or triple headers or whatever crap they come up with, just give us the traditional 20 lapper or even 15 lapper. Enough of these formats where in a 5 round series one bad start means your whole season is almost gone. I think the general consensus amongst riders and your longtime supporters says this is the way to go.
You would think the best way to improve the series would be to model it on the most succesful one there is , the AMA Supercross, so get rid of these stupid formats and do whats been succesfully working in the US. Some decent intros wouldnt go astray either on the night, theres nothing like seeing K-dub's intros in the AMA's , mad transfers across the track and plenty of whips, build a little atmosphere.
Also a small screen to let people know who is where during a race wouldnt go astray, im not asking for a jumbotron , just something small so we know what the hell is going on.
The teams themselves need to bring something new to table as well, The Hart and huntington set up has been a breath of fresh air and something new to pit area this year, they seem like they are engaging the fans by doing more than just signing a few autographs, the DJ and plenty of nice promo girls is definetly a nice touch.
Its not all negative tho i dont think, the moving to smaller venues can only be a positive thing, build it from the ground up again and hopefully make something of it, no point in sticking to the big venues and going broke.
And one final thing, please get rid of the pitbikes!!!!

yeah i almost forgot about the pitbikes.. WTF?!! they are lame. would rather see some kid on a 85 do triples like Ando and others back in the day at the Sydney entertainment centre.

I agree with the smaller venues, good thing - the venues so far have been fine.. Campbelltown was really good i thought - and the tracks havent really been lacking in any way..

i think the venues are fine, good size and fine for the crowd numbers we are pulling, but ticket prices are pretty high when you consider the venue.. it used to be $100 a ticket for acer arena/sydney superdome or rod laver arena.. now its $100 a seated ticket and $65 for a spot on the hill at a regional footy ground..
not that a regional footy ground is a bad idea, but its not even close to the quality of venue of say rod laver, etc...

yeah but the size of the track was less than half at Rod Laver it was on a tennis court.... now that was arena cross!

WELL IM FROM VICTORIA , and first couple of years of super x you would see billboards on higways , local press media in geelong hyping up the series ect all that was not their this year ,
Fact its only a 5 race series does not help,
i think live timing and live web cast , even if you had to pay smalll fee for it , would help ther series both locally and international , as a lot of the U.S blogs were asking about live feeds and their seem to be enough interest consdiering their is little racing in the u.s at the moement , that it would attract a lot of online viewers from over seas
, end the track size seem more like arenacross size -
i think its great the series is still running but , it needs a over haul to attract more interest,
every sport needs a super star to get people thru the gate and unfrotunently local riders are not attracting the public interest

i think that is one of the main problems in Australian MX and SX (more SX than MX) we dont have a super star - every one points to Chad Reed .... Jay Marmonts won 4 MX Titles... ???
and i guess in the last few years we have had a lot of hype on overseas riders - has this hurt Aussie SX scene? - we were too worries about having other riders come over when we should have been more worried about hyping up the riders that we have here already?

PS the bit about 5 0r 6 guys consistently being in top ten in u.s.a the only guy in the 450 class i could see being in the top ten would be j,marmont,
in the 250 clas their woudl be 5 or 6 guys cause they split into east and west in sx
and it got me stuffed j.marmont has not got another shot in the u.s.a by now

outofbounds wrote:

yeah but the size of the track was less than half at Rod Laver it was on a tennis court.... now that was arena cross!

Wow, so many good points!!

I completely understand where Reedy is coming from as well, and it was cool to hear him on the pulpmx show say that he really hopes for the best for the series even though he has some difference's with the promotor.

I remember the first SX they had at the Stadium at Gosford in around 2002-03, and it sold out and set a new ground record of over 20000 people with no Reedy, there were even people standing on the road bridge out the front to watch some of the action, then the next 2 years Reedy came back for it and it sold out again and again. I would love to compare ticket prices and profit margins for the promotor from this to where we are at now..

Another point, last year I went to one of the NRL semi finals between West Tigers and Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium (which ended up being one of the most epic games of Footy ever played going for over 100mins), but the main thing I realised being there was the tradition that the supportors had, they didn't really care that much about what players were on there team but supported them for the club they played for, passed down from generation to generation. My point is most average punters at SX dont really know which riders to support, unless they know someone racing, which is where the manufacturers race last year at Parramatta in the middle of the program was good from a marketing point of view IMO, I bet you cant say you've never sat in the stands and heard some guy named barry say to his mate George,"I bet the Honda wins this one" blah blah blah. I think its a great way to market the sport to the general public and look at V8 supercars and what the Ford vs Holden rivalry has taken the sport.

Also about tcr183's comment about the PA, I couldn't hear the commentry either at Campbelltown.

here's the link I mentioned above if any's interested..

http://www.cycletorque.com.au/It-s-All-About-The-Show/

Hit the nail on the head. Good work mate, definitely worth a read. The thing is, the series is so close to being great, yet lacking from a few angles that are really making an impact.

Besides, with GAS also the company behind Crusty Demons for many years and now Nitro Circus Live, you would think they'd know all about showbusiness or whatever you want to call it.

I'm nervous what will happen after the next two weekends of racing if the number crunchers don't like what they see.

First up Todd, I cant believe you dont remember Jono Porter jumping into the grandstands in the expression session that night, or Dane Kinnaird winning it with them massive Rulers he used to do, or a young Brett Metcalfe smoking everyone in the 125 class on his KTM!!. haha.
Although when your younger sometimes some things aren't exactly how you think they are or remember them. That event your talking about was something different in a BIG way with Reedy's first race back in Aus after his awesome year in the GPs and well, what more can you say about Pastrana, people would pack the place out to watch him go to the toilet. But in reality we were having some of the same issues as we are having now with spectator numbers down, thats why alot of the time Christo would run Jump Mania or Monster trucks the next day, alot of the time SX was getting half as many spectators as the monster trucks or jump mania freestyle show on the sunday.

Your night at Campbelltown was a mirror image to mine, except I had the schedule on my phone from MotoOnline "2011 Super X Rd3 Campbelltown Preview" on the home page.

I think overall it was a great event the other night, and if it was a thing that people knew that it would be there each and every year people would get more into it, also they just had a round down the road last week at Wollongong, with another round the week after only a couple of hours up the expressway in Newcastle.

I am a moto nut, so knew all of the riders, without the commentary. Unfortunately the 5 family members I dragged along didn't have a clue who was who, and which event we were up to. A parade lap would have been a welcome addition and some intro stunts etc. (just some wheelies, stoppies and whips to get the kids interested).

A basic leader board with rider number and position would have been a miminum requirement for a stadium event.

Aside from that the racing was fantastic!!!

Although there seemed a massive number of bad crashes in the junior classes due the obvious disparity between the future stars and those struggling with even the finish-line jump.

Who ever planned to have a round at Campbelltown the weekend after Woolongong should be sacked. Is it any wonder the crowds where down. You cant have 2 events like this right next 2 each other 2 weekends apart. Logic should have told someone organizing that there is not enough people willing or even financial to attend both these rounds back to back. Even international bands don't announce Bad decision number 1.

The weather is beyond anybodies control and as I stated in another post September & October are supposed to be NSW's driest months. Victoria while it has more rain in mm during those months it actually has less rainy days.

Bring back the traditional formats. I know the promoters want to get more racing for their investment in the venue but then true fans who will be there through the rain want a real format consistent at all rounds. Man on Man racing is good and so is super pole. To help lengthen the event and add extra excittment, but the core fans want the traditional format at all rounds. Bad decision number 2.

A couple of Coates road signs around the track facing the spectators with the current running order & what event is up next & a working PA system are not to much to ask. An informed customer is a happy customer & the spectators are customers. So when everyone in the crowd knows whats happening, they enjoy the event more.

I know its easy for us to sit here and type all the things we feel are wrong with the current & past SX series. But we have good tracks (thanks GAS) we have the riders that can ride the tracks & give us good racing. So why do we see ourselves asking the questions as to why we are struggling.

I think they are closer now, we can build on what we have now, hope fully they can aford to keep running a few more years and get it right, bit more back to the future.... 85's JNR's C graders and bit of a Night show. Sunday SUperX schools or Stadum racing the next day on a tamed down track.....

Proof is in the pudding they say and right about now I think Spokes Promotions where doing a great job for 25 years before MA kicked them to the curb....after all the talk all the money we are right back there LOL!

So besides the minor issues of hearing the commentry and a few other little things, the 2 main issues seem to be-
1. Price of tickets
2. Bring back traditional 20 and 15 lap formats

About the Pitbike races, they might seem a bit lame to older SX die hard fans but alot of the young kids love to see that kind of stuff, at the end of the day there only out there for 4 laps and its not like there taking time in the schedule from something more exciting. I could take them or leave them

Doova it sounds like the Godfather has you on the pay roll supporting pit bikes. Or is it a spotters fee??

All great stuff.

Completely agree with Ash on the scheduling.

Here`s my 2 cents: People, the average joe ( not us die hard fans who troll forums / websites to find out what team Tommy Hahn will be on next year etc ) want to be entertained. They for the most part wouldn`t have a clue whats happening in the U.S series nor the Aussie mx world, but they`ll know the names Pastrana / Nitro Circus, McGrath, Bubba, Timmo etc... Their the people i think that are missing and NEEDED for it to work. How do ya get them?... to start with, advertising in their medium. They don`t buy ADB or get on Motoonline... I can`t say i`ve seen a single add for Super X in any newspapers i`ve seen ( surely they did large addverts in Sydney papers?) Addvertising in shopping centres, now this next one will sound crazy - McDonalds / Hungry Jacks / Subway!!! Getting them as a corporate sponser would be ideal. Monster Energy seems to work a treat in the states, but it doesn`t have any presence here, the average joe aint gonna know Monster Energy. Did Monster have large cutouts for Super X in every service station in a 150km radius of the races with Marmont - Moss - Doova on them 12 weeks prior to the events? Thats where these average joes, and us for that matter go repeatedly.

The Formats: Personally, i`de love nothing more than seeing 20 fast guys go at it for 20 laps... but we just don`t have it. I get bored after 5 laps when the front guy gets a gap then the field is spaced out and Salty is getting lapped by the 1/2 way mark. Imagine how mr average joe feels. I thought the other formats were great. I was entertained... they keep my mind actively on the race. As much as i couldn`t stand Gary Reed (spell check) he brought that okka angle to it and tonnnnes of crew could associate with it. And the other old mate, Mr Dreadlocks, he was great, you knew what was happening the whole time and he played it up enough for it to be a show.

And lastly, they need me scouting and choosing these Monster Energy girls. ; )