The Monster Energy MX Nationals provided its now trademark display of world class racing in 2013, with an internationally-acclaimed series resulting in three truly deserving national champions.

On track the action was fierce – especially in the MX1 title fight between eventual champion Matt Moss and Todd Waters – but off the track we saw a season of progress under the reins of Williams Event Management (WEM).

MotoOnline.com.au spoke to WEM’s managing director Kevin Williams this afternoon to reflect on the series, speak about the gains made in 2013 and get an insight as to what the future holds for the Australian Motocross Championship.

Congratulations on another incredible series. What was the highlight for you in what was your 17th season at the helm of Australian Motocross?

The highlight for me was seeing new talent rise. At the start of the year we had a clear vision of where the racing was going to come from, but there were some surprise packets. Guys like Matt Moss, young guns in Kale Makeham, Kiwi Hamish Harwood and more are coming through, so all in all it was quality racing.

The GoPro Super Pole for me was another highlight. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the points structure and all that, but watching the final round at Coolum all five guys use all the run-off, swinging off their bikes the whole lap and putting it all on the line shows just how seriously they take it. It’s a great display of their skill and to me it was a real highlight.

It’s been a remarkable year in terms of Australian talent on the rise. We’ve seen Matt Moss and Todd Waters dominate in MX1, then the trend of new faces on the podium trickles across through MX2 and MXD. It’s a promising time in the sport right now, isn’t it?

It very much is. We’ve been involved in the championship since 1997 and 2001 was the first time that we actually took over the full management of the series. I have some very fond memories from back then including running a GP at Broadford.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on Dean Ferris and the exposure he’s been receiving overseas, and of course Meghan Rutledge and Mackenzie Tricker are a couple of ladies in the sport who have been doing great internationally.

To have Todd Waters and Luke Styke heading off now, Australia has produced many great Motocross riders over the years. Some have excelled into the accolades of Supercross, but most of our internationals have gone from racing Motocross and that’s continuing. Most of our new generation has come from within the MX Nationals and we’re very proud of that.

There are a lot of people looking at Australia, what we are doing is at a high level and standard. Around the world people are looking at the series, so for these guys to be getting factory seats on teams purely shows that what we are doing in Motocross is recognised around the world.

This is a somewhat a difficult question, but how would you rate the series now compared to five and 10 years ago?

It’s very different. I guess the cottage industry is larger. In that I mean the people who derive their daily income from being involved in the MX Nationals has changed dramatically. When we first started there were a couple of trucks, a lot of vans and it was a real hobby.

Now you look at the teams, the privateer teams, there are heaps and heaps of them. They’re employing mechanics, they have staff being paid and it’s becoming a lot more of a cottage industry in that sense. Back in the day CDR probably had two people – Craig Dack and Rob Twyerould – but now they have mechanics, an engine guy, suspension guy, people in the office and it’s growing.

It’s a very different product. At the start we had about four or five people and three or four were volunteers who used to just come along. Now pretty much everybody in our 16 crew is paid to be there and that is because there is a high level of responsibility in their roles that they must fulfill. We need to take it seriously and we do.

On Monday following Coolum there was the industry forum where a who’s who of the sport met to discuss its current state. What were some of the standout topics you’re able to share?

We put the forum on because Chinese whispers are things that bring stuff undone all the time. I heard a lot in the background that these people aren’t happy and those people aren’t happy, but it doesn’t matter what business or structure you’re in, you cannot keep 100 percent of the people happy 100 percent of the time. We’ve never aimed to do that.

We have two really large segments and they are actually growing further apart. Well there’s probably even more so three now. You have your factory teams that have really grown in stature, size, infrastructure, technology and knowledge. Then you’ve got a group of private teams who have evolved into a team structure and are also amassing some great technology, knowledge and staff.

That’s made the gap between the pro rider and the mum and dad privateers even larger than ever before. Everybody at different elements has a reason to be unhappy or they want something done. As I’ve been quoted in the past, there are plenty of people who will generally put Kevvy Williams on their arsehole list and that’s generally because they’ve asked a question and we’ve said no for an answer. You can’t please everybody all the time.

Quite simply, when we sat down in the room, some of the issues that the privateers had were quelled by the factory teams and what they need to achieve out of the championship. The things that factory teams were talking about were quelled by the mid-stream teams, so it was a good opportunity for everybody to air where they’re at.

The reality was, it’s pretty much where I expected it to be. Most people get involved in Motocross as a sport at a club level. Now, the MX Nationals are a long, long way from a club level event – a professional series with professional staff at every level.

Right now the product has changed dramatically. Coming from the forum, the conversation went around and answered a lot of the issues that people had sitting in the background. As Rob Walker from Kawasaki pointed out, the entries haven’t gone up for three years, the cost of a bike hasn’t gone up pretty much, parts, accessories, riding gear and those things are probably priced more competitive than they were three years ago.

There are a number of other things that are changing such as the cost of living, cost of travel, and those kind of things. All of that was discussed, but the biggest thing for me to come out of it was that our biggest drop off in rider numbers was really from 24 or so back.

If you have a look at our injury list this year it’s been relatively high, riders have been out, and because we go week on, week off, if you miss a couple of rounds we don’t see riders compete the rest of the series other than maybe their local rounds. There were about 20-plus people from memory on the medical list, so we would have had the gates closer to around 30.

They guys out of the top 20-25, the ones out of the prize money and all that, the dead-set privateers are the ones who are dropping off so there’s a number of factors behind that. As I said, travel, those things that have changed over the last three years, have affected things but we are also seeing this at a state level.

As a whole, the MX Nationals after having that meeting, there’s not a whole lot wrong. As with every business we can tweak it, but the fundamental change from 2012 to 2013 was the format when we went to a longer moto. In speaking to a number of privateers, they seemed to like the shorter motos, they were more competitive and had more of an option to run at the front.

But then you get the flipside of that, you hear from people like Craig Dack and Jeff Leisk who have made it – we’re sending another two riders overseas alongside Dean Ferris – running the long motos and preparing these guys albeit it’s a very small percentage, it’s important. The Australian championship should be the pinnacle before you go onto greater things, so the gap between pro and privateer has grown.

We’re looking at tweaking the formats a little bit, possibly maintaining at least 50 percent of longer formats, and then they other motos whether they are 25 or 20-minute motos we are still to decide. That was certainly some feeling, that we need to cater for both the pros and the privateers while maintaining an event that allows people to build a base in reaching the next level.

We’ve seen the whole two-stroke versus four-stroke debate rise this year within MX2 and MXD. What are your thoughts on the subject?

I think when you have a long championship and a blend of different circuits, it’s a non-argument for me. The two-strokes didn’t holeshot every race. I was standing at Toowoomba where it’s a slightly uphill start, quite deep and boggy which should have favoured the two-strokes, and Ryan ‘Doggy’ Marmont pulls four bike lengths on a 250F.

It comes down to the rider. Some people will say they have a power advantage, but where they might be an advantage in one part of the track, in another it might certainly be a disadvantage. You have to be fitter to ride a two-stroke, it takes more energy and those guys are putting in a stronger effort.

Another thing is it’s considerably cheaper to race a two-stroke – up to two-thirds cheaper across the series. I spoke to a few privateer parents in the lead-up to the forum and they indicated if we were a four-stroke only series they wouldn’t be riding. Others moving forward, the only way they can keep to is on a two-stroke.

For me, the 250 two-stroke is here to stay as an affordable option. The costs are going up, so if it keeps people in the sport it’s a positive. We’re certainly seeing in Europe there’s a stronger push in the two-stroke market and what’s happening with Husqvarna and also with TM having a great result at Coolum in the 2-Stroke Cup we will see more competitive two-strokes. It adds value to Australian racing.

Another thing we hear a lot of rumblings about are entry fees and prize money. What’s WEM’s stance on these?

We pay championship prize money, around $65,000 to be paid out this year. The riders that aren’t turning up are the ones from 25th to 30th and back. Those guys in any sport around the world don’t earn prize money – it’s like a cheap excuse to say they’re not there because of no prize money.

A lot of people say there’s no prize money at the MX Nationals, which is absolute rubbish. We’re paying out prize money right now. Because it’s not paid on a round-by-round basis, people say ‘oh there is none’ but the fact is that there is. If you’re doing the series, accumulating points, putting in the effort you’ll likely be getting prize money.

At the forum the prize money was raised, some people were saying drop it for the pros and give it to privateers. The reality is that’s not going to make that much difference because we’re paying back to around 15th overall in the championship.

The price of entries hasn’t changed. The only thing that has really added to the cost is RACESAFE, which everybody loves and wants them there. The question was asked, if you break down the entry fee, where can you discount it? We can take away RACESAFE, but it’s certainly the last thing we want to do. That can reduce $90 with the rider levies put into the medical, but we want to keep it there. No-one wants to be without it when they need it.

There are other factors too. We went away from series entries, but when you look at the cost of going racing, the entries are only a very small part of it. Go and have a look at the entry fees for a road race meeting what you have to pay for, go and look at the Junior Aussies, paying for premium pit space and that kind of stuff.

It’s a bit like TV at the moment, people saying you need TV back. We invested over half a million dollars in 2010 and 2011, Mike Porra invested millions during Super X – some of the team owners and managers are saying we need TV to get sponsorship.

I can honestly in my heart say that the people who ask for sponsorship and [the potential sponsors] ask have you got television? When we say no they actually already usually know the answer – it’s an easy way of saying no. When we had television they still weren’t converting it to sponsors so what was the problem then? We had television and the times were better.

You have to be creative, you have to think differently and we were able to introduce new partners this year like Holden and Sunshine Coast tourism. It wasn’t because we had television, it was because we listened to what they were talking about, we understood their new market and asked a lot of questions what it is they want to achieve. Business is changing on a weekly basis, you have to be in tune with it to move forward with it.

One major aspect of the 2013 series was the increased promotion of the sport online. With that I mean you introduced an all-new website that we were involved in, boosted your social media involvement and of course launched the live broadcasting in a partnership with My Sport Live. Tell us about that direction.

There was a lot of learning in it, we didn’t want to over-promise and under-deliver. We’re very excited about the direction and where it’s going to go in the future – the last two rounds we were doing live broadcasting from the track during the motos. We can control all our advertising, branding and all of that.

I know a lot of people who used to gave Foxtel and no longer do, but they all have a smartphone and a very large percentage has access to the internet. You can watch what we do live if you have the time or you can go and watch it later at your choice.

When you go back to the days of Supercross Masters on Channel Ten, there were only three networks or so. Now you search on the television and there are something like 35 channels come up just on free to air! The advantage we’ve got is that it’s about understanding the internet, social media and the power within that.

If you look at the riders we have, if they understand – and we intend to offer some training here – across the three championship classes, say five riders in each class have 5000 friends or fans each, that’s a reach of 75,000 people in their network. They can share this stuff, we can get an audience and it is to the audience that are ours and our sponsor’s core customers.

If Matt Moss has 10,000 or 15,000 people on his Instagram and Facebook, he has a true value to offer his sponsors and grow his opportunities as an athlete. Those are the things we have to develop and we will continue down this path working with our competitors.

WEM this year working with MotoOnline, we’ve certainly found that a collaborated effort with a single direction in mind has grown both opportunities for the partners involved. We intend to do more of that and it’s a major part of our business plan. It’s a new medium, some people are stuck in the old one pretty much like magazines or print newspapers – within five years time they’ll be collectors items…

[Laughs] how about the crowds? What kind of numbers did we experience this year versus years previous?

In general our crowds are very consistent and have continued to be. The final round was certainly down, about 15 percent, which I think was a consequence of falling on Father’s Day. We have a three-year calendar completed now, we won’t be on those types of days, and we’re keeping away from them.

There were a number of other factors, we had to deal with permits being issued for other Motocross events within close proximity to where we are, which therefore affects our potential spectator numbers. We will work with our partners at Motorcycling Australia and the State Controlling Bodies to ensure that doesn’t happen – we will try to offer them some value by having a direct association with the championship.

In general we were happy with the crowd numbers though. We’re very comfortable with the average crowd attendance of around 3000 people, of course we would like to see more, but we are also realistic about it. The spectators at the track are certainly a great part of it, but we touched so many more people that don’t turn up.

Our ‘Likes’ on all images have been positive, we partnered with Sport the Library and Jeff Crow this year, and the quality was second to none. The reach through social media, our website and more has been very inspiring. The crowd is one thing, but the MX Nationals as a brand and a product has reached hundreds of thousands of people this year.

Go onto websites like Racer X, there’s information on there, MXlarge one of Europe’s largest sites has been covering it there so if you just look at the crowd you can go ‘yeah, we need more people’, but if you look at it overall and the reach that we receive it’s massive.

Thanks for your time and well done again.

Thank you very much!