Features 15 Oct 2014

MX Hub: 41

An all-access view of Australian MX and SX, presented by Alpinestars.

Australian Supercross got underway last weekend at Bathurst and it was a decent start to the season, in what is no doubt part of a rebuilding phase into the future for Full Throttle Sports as series promoter.

After making the trek up from Sydney for the opener, it’s safe to say that I personally was impressed by what was delivered, even if it was completed on a budget that will only grow if we as a sport truly do get behind it.

We’ve never doubted the on-track action, which unfortunately this year will take place without Yamaha’s factory teams, and the quality of riders on the weekend was high. The track lent itself to tight racing, which is always a bonus.

The bells and whistles such as live streaming (which we did see last year) or television were clearly absent, but the response for the opening round both through the following of our live social media updates and the amount of people that stopped by the site itself was welcomed.

For FTS, they had goals that were set for the round and, by all reports, they were met. Friday dragged on a bit in terms of the schedule and there were some minor flaws, but those kinks were rapidly ironed out for Saturday and it was hailed a success and, most importantly, an improvement. So keep it up, everybody involved, and lets build this momentum from here.

Image: Marc Jones Photography.

Image: Marc Jones Photography.

It was especially great to see Chad Reed show up at Bathurst on the Saturday in no official manner other than simply watching as a fan of motocross. He’s known to attend the Bathurst 1000, so to cap his weekend off with a trip to supercross was a great indication of his love for the sport.

Funnily enough, this weekend we’ll see Reedy on track at the Monster Energy Cup despite what appears to be very little preparation over the past few weeks. Still, Anaheim is the big one and we’re sure Saturday will be the start of his serious 2015 preparations.

The crossover between supercross and V8 Supercars is probably higher than one would initially suspect, with personnel behind the scenes involved in both, and of course the car drivers being bike fans, and vice-versa. It was just a few years ago we witnessed Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert win the celebrity race at Phillip Island!

To have the bikes on during the weekend of the great race worked, and especially I think because it was an entirely separate event. While I do love the combo of SX and MotoGP, having them together at the same time within the same facility does compromise the supercross experience somewhat. In saying that, masses of fans are guaranteed so it’s all part of the process.

What was probably most spectacular on the weekend though was the sheer control in which Matt Moss had on his way to sweeping the SX1 ranks overall. Fresh back from MXoN, he was flawless across the weekend and could potentially go unbeaten if he limits mistakes.

Image: Marc Jones Photography.

Image: Marc Jones Photography.

The usual suspects of Adam Monea (albeit in his first supercross after missing last season altogether), Kirk Gibbs and Jake Moss were in the mix, plus we can only expect the likes of Jay Marmont and Daniel McCoy to improve as the season progresses.

Aside from those guys, you can see Lawson Bopping and Kade Mosig will challenge for the top step before the year’s out, and then there is Sam Martin, Josh Cachia and Jesse Dobson all quickly gaining steam on different bikes/teams from the outdoors.

The SX2 class was just as entertaining and it was so good to see Brenden Harrison climb onto the top step to open the season. With him, 2012 champion Gavin Faith, Kyle Peters, Taylor Potter, Kale Makeham, Jackson Richardson and Luke Arbon all in form, this season will be fun to watch at all five rounds!

Make sure you check out all of MotoOnline.com.au’s social networking channels and be sure to Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for even more behind the scenes insights. Just search MotoOnline.

Recent