Rockstar Motul Suzuki today confirmed to MotoOnline.com.au that Daniel McCoy would be stepping up to the Pro Open class with the team for the Monster Energy Super X series, a great reward for a rider who prefers riding 450s.

After a somewhat disappointing season in the Pro Lites aboard the RM-Z250 where he finished sixth overall, the 27-year-old is looking to redeem himself on the RM-Z450 during the Australasian Supercross Championship.

McCoy is a rider who has a lot of experience and has ridden for pretty much every factory team or manufacturer in the country, but is hoping to find a home with Suzuki in 2011 and beyond.

MotoOnline.com.au gave him a call this afternoon to get his thoughts on the upcoming Super X season, and also to reflect a little bit on the season that was in the outdoors.

You’ve been given the call to step up to the 450 for Super X, so that must be a very positive thing for you?

Yeah, for sure, I’m really happy – especially after riding the 450 for the past three Super X series. The Suzuki is a really good bike and I’ve spent a couple of days riding it now.

I feel at home on it already, so yeah, we have eight weeks before the first round coming up. I can’t wait to get stuck into it, do some more testing, and things can only get better.

I know you were excited to join Suzuki this year no matter what class it was in, but did you kind of hope in the back of your mind all along that you could ride the Open class for supercross?

Well originally I asked Jay [Foreman] if I could ride the 450 coming into supercross, but obviously with [Brett] Metcalfe signing for Suzuki this year, they were hoping to get him back.

To be honest I really wanted to ride the 450, but I really didn’t think it was going to happen because I thought Brett would have been coming. To get the call the other day, I was kind of blown away a bit. I’m just super excited, stoked to be given the opportunity.

You actually had a pretty good season in Super X last year as a privateer and have a few Open class podium finishes to your name over the years, so what’s your goal for 2011?

My first goal is to get good starts. You know, I struggled all year with them on the Lites bike, but last year in Super X I had the bike geared right and had a good technique going on.

If I can better that technique with this bike, knowing that it’s a lot better than what I was on, then I think we’ll be in for a good shot of winning races and getting some podiums.

At the end of the day, I’m going to concentrate on my riding and program, so if things go to plan I think I’ll be where I want to be.

Recently you went to Campbelltown Stadium and met with the mayor, so that must have been pretty cool, to introduce the series to your home area?

Yeah, it was a bit weird gearing up and wheeling the bike onto the footy field with no track, but it was good. It’s good to bring it to Campbelltown, being close to my home is a great thing.

We’re selling tickets at my shop – Sixty 65 Five – in Narellan, and so many people are talking about it already. It’s going to be a sell-out, for sure.

You have ridden for a lot of teams, but when you came back from America you could probably say that the Rockstar Motul Suzuki 450 ride is the one you’ve wanted most. For you it’s a big opportunity, so is this your chance to put your career right back on track?

Yeah, definitely. It’s funny you ask that question because in the past I’ve been on every team that there is. One team that I wanted to ride for was Suzuki on the 450, it’s been on my mind since 2007 or 2008.

The opportunity’s come, but over the past two years I really thought that the chances of it happening would be really tough unless I got some exceptional results.

Somehow it’s all happened and I know it’s a make or break deal. I have to prove myself on this bike and get the results – hopefully I can put everything back in the right direction.

Looking back to the nationals, you won the Toowoomba round overall and did put forward some good performances, but overall it wasn’t what you expected…

The overall result wasn’t where I wanted to be and I’m sure the team didn’t want to be there either. Winning Toowoomba was cool, it was nice to get a win again, plus I got a podium at Raymond Terrace.

I felt good on the bike, but to be honest I just struggled with top-end power. We were kind of chasing the power that I look for in the top-end, but it is what it is. I tried my best, the team tried their best, so what more can you do?

Okay well congratulations on the news, we look forward to seeing you out there in what will be a stacked field for the season.

No worries, thanks a lot. I’m looking forward to it!

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