MotoOnline.com.au profiles GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha’s newest team rider.

MotoOnline.com.au profiles GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha’s newest team rider.

Sam Duncanson is on the verge of success in Australian motocross and supercross, competing in both the MX Nationals and Super X series, while also completing his apprenticeship up in Queensland.

The Brisbane-based rider received the call of a lifetime just one week out from this year’s Monster Energy Super X series, asked by the GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha team to replace the injured Shaun Redhead and spearhead Yamaha’s U19s program.

Duncanson has been on the national radar for a number of years, racing the Pro Lites class for the last two years outdoors, but his biggest accomplishment yet would be winning the Sunshine State title in Queensland earlier this year.

Stepping back to the Under 19s for Super X was a relatively easy choice considering the opportunity for the 18-year-old, but he did have to get the move approved by his regular sponsors just days out from round one.

“I’ve been riding Lites for the last couple of years in motocross and then got the offer to ride Under 19s in supercross for the GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha team,” he said. “It was pretty much impossible not to take it because it’s a good team.

“It was a hard decision, because I got called up just before the first round, had all my bikes ready, gear finished and all my sponsors in place. I didn’t want to burn them, so we spoke to them and they understood – it all worked well in the end.”

Sam Duncanson has teamed up with GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha for Super X in 2011. Image: Rice Photography.

Duncanson said the ease of having a team structure around him has been a bonus, scheduling work in between during the busy schedule of five back-to-back rounds during Super X.

“Everything is so much easier because I do an apprenticeship and work during the week as well,” he explained. “I have to go home and work, then fit a couple of days riding in. Then I fly out Friday, having done some riding during the week.”

Although luck has escaped Duncanson in the opening rounds, he likes the YZ250F a lot and wants to make his mark in the final two rounds of the series this year.

“The bike is sweet, really nice to ride and the best thing that I’ve ever ridden,” he admitted. “They have all the good suspension and stuff that I haven’t used before, so that’s good for me and I’m really enjoying it.”

Riding for a team is something that Duncanson says he could quickly get used to, and credits Yamaha for their development chain that has proven so attractive for young riders in recent years.

“If I can get some good results I’d like to get a Lites ride some time in the future,” he continued. “They have a good program to develop riders, so I’d like to stay with Yamaha. I got the call up for this, so hopefully that can happen again in years to come.”

Duncanson finished fifth in the series’ first dry round last weekend in Sydney, now maintaining that position in the standings entering tomorrow’s penultimate round in Maitland.

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