Lewis Woods is a name that you would probably know if you have been following the Australian Motocross and Supercross scene to any extent over the past few years.

After spending the past two seasons battling it out in the premier 450 class with some very respectable results along the way, 2012 will see Woods back in the Lites class aboard a Hart and Huntington/InsureMyRide backed Suzuki RM-Z250.

“In 2010 I finished ninth in the supercross and motocross and then last year I had some bad luck and broke my ankle halfway through the motocross,” Woods commented. “In supercross I wasn’t really happy with the KTM 450 that I was riding, and I finished just outside the top ten in that.

“I’ve stepped down to the Lites this year, I probably should have had one more year in that class. Being only 70 kilos I feel like the 250 is the right size bike for me at the moment,” he added.

With an already strong relationship between Woods and Hart and Huntington apparent, the team seems a good fit for the 22-year-old Victorian, and after initial testing he seems confident in both the team and his machinery.

“Kale from Hart and Huntington has been a personal sponsor for a couple of years and now that he’s formed a team he was keen to do the motocross,” said Woods.

“I told him that I was keen to ride a Lites bike and didn’t have a ride at the time and it all came together at the start of the year.

“I’ve had the bike for a few weeks now and have mainly done some suspension testing. We haven’t actually had to do too much to it, it’s a good bike, it turns pretty well and the geometry of the bike is really good.

“I’ve been up here with [team mate Dan] McCoy at Coonabarabran for the last few days and its been really good to get these three days in here.

“Now I’m on my way home to do a bit more testing with pipes and gearing and stuff like that. They will have my race bike engine built soon so we’ll test that in the next few weeks too.”

With a solid bike and team structure behind him for 2012, Woods is confident that he has put in the work to ensure his move back to the Lites class this season is a successful one, and has been putting in the training to ensure he is ready for the shorter, sprint style races.

“I think I definitely have top five speed. The shorter motos also should be a little easier than the last few years, so I’m just working on upping my intensity and being able to up my intensity for the whole moto,” said Woods.

“That and just working on the bike to get a bit more power out of it for a good start will be key. Once we have the race bike sorted I’ll probably come back up to McCoy’s and do a bit more riding with him and keep getting my intensity up and we should be ready to go.”

It seems as though Lewis Woods has been putting in the work during the off season, and his jump back to the Lites class for 2012 with Hart and Huntington/Insure My Ride could prove to be his best season yet.