The Enduro-X Nationals get underway at Archerfield this weekend in Brisbane, marking the first in a three-round series to officially commence the domestic racing season.

Enduro-X has taken Australia (and the world) by storm in recent years and this year’s due to be a cracker with the likes of Toby Price, Tye Simmonds, Daniel Sanders, Chris Hollis, Tom McCormack, Josh Green, Beau Ralston, Mike Brown, Peter Boyle and more going for the title.

An event such as the stadium-based Enduro-X shows just how versatile a rider like Price and pretty much the rest of the off-road racers are – far removed from the high speed long races of Dakar or Finke, etc.

In terms of talent, the off-road ranks are as stacked as they’ve ever been in Australia and the bikes raced are a broad variety as well. Even though the circuit’s man-made, the racing is about as raw as it gets when it comes to motorcycling in competition.

While Enduro-X does take a unique skill, there’s no doubt that a strong haul of results for the teams throughout the series will do wonders for them come the Australian Off-Road Championships and the remainder of 2015.

It also marks the first event that the KTM Off-Road Racing Team will be run in an official capacity by Ben Grabham, replacing Brad Williscroft at the helm in a major shakeup over the off-season.

Looking at the off-road class of 2015, the professionalism is awe-inspiring. Well gone are the days of low-key country-type racers – the sport is as professional as any two-wheel discipline in Australia.

The bikes are first class in preparation and teams are fielded by multiple manufacturers, complete with high quality backing behind the scenes that keep these guys looking immaculate all year long.

It’s a major testament to those who have stuck by the sport since the early days. We can’t wait to watch it all unfold over the course of the year. And on that note, here’s Simon Makker with his latest from New Zealand.

This weekend marks the opening hit-out of the 2015 Backflips Clothing New Zealand Motocross Championship in New Plymouth.

No doubt the event is going to be closely monitored by fans and industry on both sides of The Ditch as some of Australia’s best go head-to-head with the Kiwi contingent.

For some reason or another, Australians haven’t had that much success on New Zealand soil, with last year’s championships claimed by Cody Cooper, Kayne Lamont and Josiah Natzke.

I think this year is going to be a different story though. Kirk Gibbs will be very keen to claim the NZ championship and carry the weight of momentum into the MX Nationals.

Gibbsy will have his hands full with the always-fast (especially on home soil) Cooper, while fellow Australians Luke Styke and Kade Mosig will also be eager to make their mark.

Mosig actually replaces Jacob Wright, who’s suffered a minor pre-season injury under Josh Coppins’ Altherm JCR Yamaha team between Woodville and this weekend.

Speaking of injuries, last year’s MX2 champion Kayne Lamont has been ruled out of the NZ title hunt after snapping his wrist recently.

Lamont, who’s signed to race the British Motocross Championships for the MX Zone Turvey Construction Yamaha team, has had a miserable, injury-riddled off-season and no doubt will be desperately hoping his run of bad luck has ended.

With Lamont and Hamish Harwood (ruptured spleen) out, expect a few contenders to step up to start staking a claim in the MX2 mine.

Yamaha’s Scotty Columb and Jay Wilson are right up there in the favourites pile, but my pick is for Josiah Natzke to snatch both number one plates in both the national 125 and MX2 classes.

The kid – who has a five-year factory KTM contract in his pocket – is damn talented and with Ben Townley in his corner, he has the potential to take double class wins.

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