Our ninth Moto Insider feature of the year is coming to you from aboard a Qantas Boeing 737 somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne, which is actually the third week in a row that I’m putting it together while travelling sky-high.

Today is a special trip though, to the launch of the 2012 MX Nationals in Port Melbourne, where we’ll have confirmation of a new series sponsor to replace the outgoing Rockstar Energy Drink brand.

I bumped into new Monster Energy Kawasaki signing Jay Marmont at Sydney Airport and already he’s buzzing with excitement for the new season. In some ways today is his first on the job in green as the vast majority of press see him as a Kawasaki rider for the first time (at least in recent years!).

Also on hand today will be Brad Anderson of the Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team. It will be interesting to hear from Anderson regarding his move to Australia, especially since he’s been heavily shaded from the spotlight by former world champion teammate Ben Townley.

Speaking of BT, he won’t be appearing at the launch since he’s awaiting the birth of his second child with his family over in New Zealand – we’re going to have to wait until round one in a few weeks time to speak to Ben face to face about his title prospects.

Williams Event Management’s Kevin Williams will obviously also be there today to speak about the direction the series is taking, which very much looks to be a positive one as the MX Nationals go from strength to strength year in, year out.

The launch was actually supposed to be held on the Bellbird Circuit at Appin, which will host round eight of the series, but weather put an end to those plans and we’ll instead have to settle for a press conference in Melbourne, with no riding to be completed.

Anyway, we’ll be back with more from the launch later, so for now, let’s take a look at some other things happening in the sport this week. Remember to stay glued to our social networking sites on Twitter (www.twitter.com/motoonline) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/motoonline) in the meantime for updates as they happen.

Marmont said at the airport that he’s continuing to make progress with the KX450F that he’ll race this year, not really affected by the weather that has seen rain falling throughout the east coast of the country in recent weeks. He’s confident in the Kawasaki and definitely seems refreshed by his new role in a fresh team.

Jay mentioned that he was out practicing at Appin yesterday, as were a host of other MX1 contenders, including Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s newest signing, Todd Waters. As teams finally get their 2012 graphics sorted, expect images of the riders to start surfacing in the lead-up to the series.

Jake Moss was also out at Appin putting in motos, and he’s said to be making solid progress on the Honda (remember he raced a CRF for Troy Lee Designs in the U.S. a couple of years ago). Marmont’s teammate Kade Mosig has also been in Sydney recently doing work.

Mosig was actually the topic of a brand new feature we launched here on MotoOnline yesterday afternoon, called Social Spotlight. Check it out in the Features tab or via the homepage, but it’s basically the first of a few additional features we will be rolling out over the next month.

Two riders that I’m interested to see in race mode are Tye Simmonds and Daniel McCoy. Simmonds shocked us all with his 11th hour decision to split from JDR/KTM Factory Racing and do his own Honda deal, while McCoy will be on a Suzuki again, this time with the Hart and Huntington team. Both have their own resources and with both using FactorySpec suspension, expect them to work together at times during the year.

Regarding that whole Simmonds/JDR break up, we understand that there was moves attempted to place Tye on Craig Anderson’s Yamaha team, but in the end it couldn’t be sorted for a variety of reasons. So far it’s unlikely that JDR replaces Simmonds on a second 450 alongside Reardon, but I personally would prefer it if they did – even if it was an international!

More bikes equal more entertainment, however Ryan Marmont’s addition to the team in the Lites for the outdoors wasn’t originally planned. Thinking about it now, I had enjoyed watching Doggy’s progress on the 350 last year before he was injured, so it’s a shame to see him step back to the Lites. If anyone can make the 350 work it’s him, even winning that moto at Appin last year.

As for Reardon, he has put a new program in place for this year with the JDR team and I have a feeling he is going to be much, much stronger than one year ago. He’s just finished up some testing out at Coonabarabran and seems to finally have both health and a bit of confidence back on his side. Don’t rule him out of title contention just yet.

The Aussie outdoors are now only weeks away, set to commence on 1 April at Conondale in Queensland, and what a start to the season it’s shaping up to be. There are so many unanswered questions, so much hype, and a host of new teams and riders that we can’t wait to see. As always, MotoOnline will be there to cover the series every step of the way.

Yarrive Konsky’s International Entertainment Group has been the heavy favourite to promote Australian Supercross in 2012, adding the series to its Australian Superbike Championship that it’s already in control of. Now, another candidate has emerged in the form of Mark Petersen. It’s still early days yet, but Petersen is the man behind the motorcycle expos, etc, and could bring something new to the mix. We’ll chase that one up.

An interesting rumour coming out of America on Racer X’s Racerhead column last week was that James Stewart could somehow end up on TwoTwo Motorsports for the outdoors! Well, judging by posts on Twitter this week between Chad Reed, Stewart and Reed’s wife Ellie, it doesn’t look likely to happen at all…

Check it out for yourself, but long story short, Chad Tweeted about Bubba’s ability (or you could say lack of) to race for 20 laps, to which James indirectly responded with the now viral ‘couch potato’ comment. There is still no love lost between these two, so don’t expect the number seven on TwoTwo anytime soon. Although, stranger things have happened (okay, maybe they haven’t!).

It’s reasons like that which make us appreciate social networking so much, because you hear it straight from the horses mouth, rather than rumours that gain momentum and incorrect facts the further they spread. We all do love a good bench racing session though, that is for sure!

We also realised on the weekend that Cody Mackie is back in Australia after his stint with Jeff Ward Racing during a number of AMA Supercross rounds. Josh Grant isn’t yet back, but Mackie’s three-month visitors visa had simply run its course since he arrived there in December. Will he be back? We’re not sure, but in the meantime we’ll get in touch and find out what his plan is from this point.

Anyway, I’m sure that Steve Matthes will give you all that and more with his perspective on the AMA tomorrow when ever popular and entertaining Matthes Report returns for another week.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, MotoOnline.com.au introduced our new updated Facebook Page this week, which is now a Timeline Page. Not everybody likes the Timeline, including us in some ways, but we have to admit it does work a treat for branding. Head over there and check it out!

Anyhow, that’s all for this week as I’ve fit a good 1200 words (almost three A4 pages of 12-point text) into a one-hour flight, and we’re about to touchdown. Thank you once again for stopping by and supporting the site.