The 2013 silly season continues to unfold and, so far, many of our well informed predictions have been on point within the 450 Class. Billy Mackenzie unveiled his CDR Yamaha last week, while Monster Energy Kawasaki started testing with their new 450 rider in Queensland this week, according to Troy Carroll’s Instagram account. Count on it being Adam Monea as Mackenzie’s replacement.

Serco Yamaha Metal Mulisha Racing today confirmed their line-up of Luke Styke and Luke Clout on Facebook, but we also knew that was going to happen as well. It’s a common thing these days, where we as media wait for official announcements and then it’s usually uncovered on social networking beforehand anyway. We’ll take the confirmation any way we can get it!

Some good news recently is that a few of the guys injured late in the nationals are back on the bike, including Monea and Luke Arbon, who has himself surfaced riding a Kawasaki in South Australia. We’ll chase up that later this week.

As for Kirk Gibbs, we will hopefully see him back on the bike soon as part of KTM’s new-look team alongside Todd Waters. Gibbs has announced a few new personal deals this week, including Bell Helmets and SCOTT Goggles for the new year. Now, we’re just waiting for confirmation from KTM Australia that he’ll be on a 450 next year with Waters.

The amazing thing is in all of this that Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing had their deals done and announced three months ago with the very solid combination of Ben Townley and Ford Dale. Townley has a 2013 model CRF450R that he’s been riding in New Zealand already, while Dale will be back on the bike late in January if all goes to plan.

We are in possibly the quietest news weeks of the year following the conclusion of Australian Supercross and in the lead-up to Anaheim 1, however there is always a variety of things going on behind the scenes that we try and chase.

Daniel McCoy will officially go to the US next year for the first six rounds of American Supercross, riding at all three Anaheim rounds, Phoenix, Oakland and San Diego. CDR will support him by supplying parts for the journey, but apart from that he will be racing as a privateer. Remember Cody Mackie at the beginning of this year? You never know what can come of these gambles.

McCoy’s trip over there will actually give us a pretty good indication of where Australians are at compared to the best in the world. We haven’t seen Jay Marmont try his hand at racing in America since he started wracking up titles in 2008, so I guess having the current Aussie SX number two head over in his prime on a similar bike to what he raced here will be interesting.

Since supercross concluded, McCoy has continued to pound out laps at his private track, working on his speed and hoping to keep momentum on his side. He will head to America next Tuesday and remain there until mid-February trying to make a name for himself.

Speaking of the US, Kade Mosig is currently in California training with close friend and fellow Aussie Josh Cachia. We’re not certain exactly what Mosig is up to over there, but we had heard rumours last month that he’d lined up a test with Star Valli Yamaha.

Mosig had been riding his Monster Energy Kawasaki of 2012 in Queensland until this week when he headed to America. Like McCoy, it’s expected that he too will remain over there for at least two months and possibly even longer if he lands himself a deal.

Looking toward next year’s outdoors in Australia, how good is it going to be? New champions will be crowned in both MX1 and MX2, with Josh Coppins retiring and Ford Dale stepping up a class. The thought of Townley, Waters, Marmont, Dale, Bopping, Mackenzie, two Moss brothers, Cooper, Monea, Gibbs and more battling for the MX1 title is unreal.

What you will notice in looking at that line-up, Australian riders are really starting to take charge again when it comes to the factory teams. The emergence of young guys like Waters, Bopping, Dale, Monea and Gibbs is healthy for the sport on a domestic level. The fact that they will have Townley here setting the pace outdoors is even better for the young Aussies.

That’s all we have for this week, but thank you for stopping by and remember to check out the Moto Poll in the right-hand sidebar of the website to have your say when it comes to the content we focus on his 2013. We’d be stoked to hear your feedback!