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AMA Motocross

What a weekend it was for South Australian Brett Metcalfe and Australian motocross in general as he took his maiden AMA Pro Motocross overall win after eight years of trying!

It was a huge milestone for one of the nicest guys in moto, an achievement that certainly cements him alongside the likes of Chad Reed and Jeff Leisk as one of our greatest internationals ever.

Metty has been on various teams since heading to the U.S. in 2003, doesn’t come home often, but has always stayed true to his home country as a proud Aussie – even if he does have that funky Yankee accent!

MotoOnline.com.au sends a huge congratulations out to Brett and his entire family including his dad Steve, who was on hand to see him win for Rockstar Makita Suzuki first hand.

What is with Aussies performing so well at Southwick? We’ll never forget Craig Anderson and Michael Byrne’s Lites class 1-2 finish at the sandy circuit in 2003, with both winning a moto each that weekend.

Many of us also remember the 1-2-3 finish for Aussies Chad Reed, Jake Moss and Michael Byrne in 450 Class moto one at Southwick back in 2009. There’s just something about the place that brings out the best in our guys over there and we look forward to it every year.

This year wasn’t so great for Reed, suffering bike troubles in both motos and effectibely ruining any hope he had of challenging for the 450 Class championship this year. Either way, Reedy has had a career defining year, but it was strange to see a factory Honda expire like it did on Saturday in what were truly tough conditions.

What we must hope for now as Aussies is that Reedy can put all of his energy into a strong finish outdoors, which will then hopefully boost Australia to a podium at the Motocross of Nations in France next month. With Reed and Metty both winners of AMA Pro Motocross this year, plus Matt Moss in the States training right now, I don’t think a podium is out of reach at all.

The good news for me is, I’ll be on hand at Pala for the final round of the outdoors and I’ll be sure to provide all the angles I can from an Aussie perspective.

Australian Supercross

We had confirmation last week that Luke Styke will partner Kirk Gibbs at Serco Yoshimura Yamaha for the 2011 Monster Energy Super X, Australasian Supercross Championship, season.

The team was in talks with a few American guys, but it seemingly became all too complicated, and Styke was the big winner with an opportunity to shine at a factory level. After impressing in the final couple of outdoor rounds, Styke will be keep to cement himself as an option full time for 2012.

Speaking of Gibbs, he was on hand at the new YZ250F launch last week in Queensland and is confident that it’ll come as an advantage for Super X. Gibbs, Styke and Luke Arbon will all ride Serco-built Yamahas in Super X, although the latter will of course be under the GYTR Rockstar Energy Drink Yamaha team banner.

Meanwhile, Shaun Redhead will remain in the Under 19s for the team, and rising star Joel Dinsdale will join them in the junior development ranks for his first supercross season. We’re hearing he’s one to watch for the future, so keep an eye out on the kids to see how he fares all season long.

I spoke to Todd Waters yesterday afternoon and he’s been down in Melbourne testing with his Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team all week. Waters will be a dark horse in the Open class as he learns the ropes, not afraid to take risks and challenge the proven Super X regulars. He’s happy with the bike so far as well, which is a good start.

New Australian Women’s Motocross Champion Meghan Rutledge made headlines last weekend with a clean-sweep at Coolum in tough conditions, and she’s revealed that she’ll be in the Under 19s ranks for Super X this season. Many were amazed with her speed and skill at the nationals, quite possibly shaping up to be out next big thing on the world stage in years to come.

Australian Off Road

Our interview with Matt Phillips yesterday afternoon revealed a number of interesting things, including the fact that international teams have been knocking on his door for 2012 after a spectacular showing at the ISDE in Finland recently.

Phillips’ form continued with his sweep at the South Australian rounds of the Australian Off Road Championship, and at this point he could stand a very real shot at the title. In case you missed the interview, click here to check it out.

Husqvarna has been holding its annual dealer conference this week on the Gold Coast, where its new 2012 models were unveiled yesterday. Glenn Kearney is up there and he’s already eyeing off the new TC 250 four-stroke. Not that he’d want to step down to the E1 class, but GK did say he’d consider it if the bike really is as good as the Italians are claiming!

Finally, our thoughts go out to defending off-road champion Toby Price after he was hospitalised due to a crash at Callington. His hand slipped off the handlebar when it lost strength mid-race on Sunday, which was because he’s been suffering from ‘intersection syndrome’ in his arms lately.

Mathematically Toby’s not out of the title chase, but his rib and kidney injuries are likely to keep him off the bike for some time. It’s not yet confirmed whether he’ll be back for the penultimate weekend of AORC racing in two weeks time at Mt. Seaview or not.

That’s all for this week, thanks for tuning in and be sure to come back each day for breaking news as it happens! Also, remember to follow us on Twitter and to ‘Like’ us on Facebook.

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