Last year saw Lawson Bopping assert himself as one of our most promising rising stars in Australian motocross and supercross, winning races and standing on the podium both indoors and out as a Pro Open rookie.

It was no huge surprise then that it was Bopping who was announced as Jay Marmont’s replacement at CDR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha, signing on to partner Josh Coppins aboard the factory-supported YZ450F.

At 22, Bopping has big shoes to fill after being hand-picked by Craig Dack, however along with Marmont, he’s on track to lead the Australian charge in a series sprinkled with some of the world’s best internationals.

MotoOnline.com.au called Bopping up this morning to speak about his new ride as he was preparing to spend 10 days at the Australian Institute of Sport in preparation for 2012.

It was confirmed before Christmas that you’re the guy who’s replacing Jay Marmont at CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha, so what’s it feel like to land the what is probably biggest ride in the sport?

Yeah, it’s awesome. I spoke to CDR a little bit after the motocross and in the supercross series. After I won that round at Maitland, that helped a lot, so Dacka gave me a call after supercross and I went down to see the team. He wanted to show me through the workshop, tell me how the team works and everything.

Everything went to plan and it was all good. They had two bikes down there ready for me. It was pretty crazy, [because] I walked in the shop and they had the bikes there, set up with numbers and everything – I hadn’t even signed anything yet!

I went for a ride the next day and yeah, pretty much came to an agreement then went home with two bikes and a heap of parts. It was really good actually [laughs]. I rode up until Christmas, had a little bit of time off and now I’m back into it. I’m looking forward to it.

The guys at CDR obviously have a good base set-up, so how have you found the Yamaha YZ450F so far?

For sure it was a little bit weird riding it straight up, because I got hurt at the last supercross and hadn’t ridden for six weeks. Then I got straight on the Yamaha and it was weird, but by the end of the day I started to get a really good feel for it.

The bike feels really good now and we haven’t really done much testing or anything, because that starts in February. As the bike comes out just stock, it’s really quick, so we just have to get it handling sweet. The team has so much to work with, it’s pretty crazy just how many parts and everything they have there to use.

When you heard that Jay might be leaving, did you ever seriously expect that you would be the guy to replace him and line up alongside a guy like Josh Coppins?

Not really. Everybody was talking like Jay was going to move, but then he had a good supercross series and everybody was saying that he was going to stay at Yamaha. I was like, ‘man, I don’t know if I’m going to get a ride or not’, but when he left and I got the call from Dacka, he sounded pretty keen.

It didn’t even sink in until the drive home. When I went down there I was just checking it all out, then when I was driving back with two CDR bikes in my van, I was like ‘whoa, this is actually happening’. It’s going to be a hard year for sure, probably the hardest that I’ve ever done, but I’ll put in a big effort and hopefully have a good year.

Last year you came in on the 450 and you were pretty strong straight away. Your results were good outdoors and in supercross, so will you be trying to build on that momentum, or changing up the program to suit your new ride?

Last year I learnt a lot about riding the 450 and also my health as well, which played a big part. I got healthier as the year went on with my diabetes, so I learnt a lot. This year I have a similar approach, just knowing what to expect a little bit.

Obviously this year is going to be harder again I think, with [Ben] Townley coming over and a couple of other guys, but I look forward to it with the change. I’ve got new bikes, a new team, new gear and new everything, so I look forward to working with CDR.

They know a lot about racing and you only have to look at all the championships that they have won. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from the team and then seeing what we can do with it all.

You mentioned the internationals that are coming over and obviously Jay is a four-time champion, so do you feel like it’s up to you alongside him to try and keep the Aussies at the front?

Yeah, I think so. It’s a pretty international field, so if you win this year it’s a big deal. We’re racing against a world champ and all the other Euro guys are really good riders as well. Jay’s going to be strong again as he always is, so it’s just all about the work that we put in now and see what we can bring come April 1st.