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Australian Supercross

The Maitland round of Monster Energy Super X turned out to be a good one last weekend, different than what we have been used to in recent years, but I believe a lot better than many expected entering the round at a smaller type of venue.

A technical track once again presented riders and made it ultra important to get starts considering the format, which ultimately resulted in Lawson Bopping breaking through for his and Raceline Pirelli Suzuki’s maiden Pro Open victory via 2-2-2 results.

The afternoon was a trying one for Jay Marmont. He dominated practice and qualifying, but went down with Todd Waters in the heat race. That saw him stuck with the 10th gate pick for the finals, basically putting him on the outside of the starter box.

It wasn’t a huge problem though, because in the second and third finals he got good starts and made his way to first place in both. Jay’s never say die attitude is alive and well during Super X this year and I’d say he’s riding the best he ever has.

Speaking of Jay, his expected switch to Monster Kawasaki doesn’t seem so certain in recent days. Three different people have mentioned to me that Craig Dack and Jay have seemed closer in recent rounds, and you can’t argue with his form.

Is Jay Marmont setting up to go for a fifth straight year with CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha? I’ve spoken to guys within both camps including Jay himself, but they are all tight-lipped on the subject and want to get Super X out of the way before making any final decisions.

So far in the 450 class we’ve seen four winners in four rounds. Also interesting to add is the fact that out of those four winners, there have been three first time winners in the premier class of Super X (Tye Simmonds, Dan McCoy and Bopping).

I’ll have a blog later this week to preview the season finale in my own way and reflect on what we have seen to date in 2011. The talent we are currently witnessing on home soil is amazing, so stand up and take notice. The future has pretty much arrived.

While the 450 class is closer than ever, Matt Moss and Errol Willis are super close to wrapping up their respective titles in the Lites and U19s. Both are already thinking about 2012, with Moss going to the U.S. and Willis stepping up to the Lites. Both will be interesting to see.

That crash from Steven Clarke in the third Lites final was downright scary, similar to Chad Reed’s in the way he had to eject mid-air, but thankfully he escaped with just an arm injury. Brenden Harrison also avoided severe injury when he crashed out of the Lites main, so hopefully he can line up for his home round in QLD.

Two guests that we will see this weekend in Ipswich will be Malcolm Stewart with the JDR Motorsports team, albeit just as a spectator, while Ben Townley will also be on hand. It’s believed Townley will be here to sign with the Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team, so stay tuned for that announcement. He’s poised to join Brad Anderson in the all-international line-up at Honda.

A big buzz in the injury of late has been our Moto Poll, which was won by JDR on Monday when we ran the question to find out what our readers’ dream local team ride was. Monster Kawasaki was right in the hunt though, separated by less than 10 votes after a number of months.

And now for the regular reminders that we slot into the Insider column, keeping you up to date on a few things that are going on away from the on-track action…

By the way, make sure you enter our Fantasy League competition. The final round is open for entry, so click on this link because we have custom number one plates to give away at each round and for the series. Somebody needs to stop Doova from going back-to-back!

And finally, remember that we are pushing our social networking hard across the board, so be sure to check out www.facebook.com/motoonline and www.twitter.com/motoonline for all the behind the scenes action and images at each round.

American Supercross

Can you believe the next season is just around the corner? I spoke to Chad Reed this afternoon on the phone and he was happy with the way preparations are coming along, while also preparing for Genoa in Italy this weekend.

Reed has been busy testing in California at the Honda test track and is well and truly focused on the opening round. The festive season will be coming up before Anaheim, but as soon as Santa’s been and gone, all eyes will be on Angel Stadium.

Chad has an ideal situation this year, returning with his own team and again on Honda, so that should come into his hands while Ryan Dungey continues to work with KTM and James Stewart is still finding his feat with new suspension and Pirelli tyres at JGR.

In the coming weeks we’ll really start to focus on the other U.S-based Aussies, try get some updates on their pre-season form to see how it’s all coming along. I’m quietly confident we’ll see big things from all of them next year, including Brett Metcalfe, Michael Byrne and Matt Moss once he’s done with Super X.

That’s it for now, thanks for stooping by. See you this weekend at Queensland’s finale. It’s going to be a great finale that will see a new champion crowned.

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