Further details have emerged on the shock announcement that Australian Road and Track Rider Promotions (ARTRP) will conduct a single round Australasian FX Motocross Championship in December.

The FX in the series title stands for Formula Xtreme, the well-established road race championship that is run under the Australian Auto Sport Alliance (AASA) sanctioning body instead of Motorcycling Australia (MA).

This season has seen the Australian Formula Xtreme Championship and upcoming Australasian FX Superbike Championship run under AASA permits, enabling ARTRP to conduct the events as official Australian championship events.

The Australasian FX Motocross Championship will take place at the Winton Motocross Circuit in Victoria on 19 December, set to be held on the Sunday following the final round of the Superbike championship that will be held into the twighlight hours of Saturday 18 December.

In a bid to create an all-round weekend of motorcycle racing, ARTRP general manager Terry O’Neill told MotoOnline.com.au that they are also considering adding a Supermoto championship category to the line-up.

The idea is to offer camping to motorcycle and motorsport fans, enabling them to watch the road race action on the Saturday that will finish at around 8:00pm before camping the night and waking up to motocross competition on Sunday morning.

O’Neill also confirmed via email yesterday afternoon that the Australasian FX Motocross Championship will receive two hours of free-to-air television coverage on SBS Speedweek, with replays also scheduled for FOX Sports.

The regular array of senior motocross classes will be featured at the event, as well as a ladies class and juniors – with all classes receiving television coverage according to O’Neill.

While the Formula Xtreme category is recognised as a top level series in road racing that has prompted Yamaha’s factory Superbike team to switch from the MA-sanctioned Australian Superbike Championship, rivaling the hugely popular eight-round MX Nationals series promoted by Williams Event Management (WEM) under MA permits will mark a challenge of epic proportions for the ARTRP.

With a single round title set for 2010 and 2011, O’Neill stated that the FX Motocross Championship will expand in “future years when it outgrows one weekend of racing”.

O’Neill has also suggested that they are in talks with “several teams from overseas” for the Motocross event, however no confirmation of where the teams are from or who the riders will be has been revealed at this stage.

As is the case with the road race series, ARTRP will accept MA licences at the events despite the championship being sanctioned by an entirely different governing body in the AASA.

The ARTRP is a partner organisation consisting of Winton Raceway,
Wakefield Park Raceway and Eastern Creek Raceway, along with O’Neill’s Australasian Superbike Company and television production company AVE TV.

The AASA governing body that permits ARTRP events originated as a sanctioning body for four-wheel motor racing, with Winton Raceway CEO Mick Ronke also the president of the AASA. The AASA’s vice-president is Bob Jane, of Bob Jane T-Marts fame.

More details are set to be announced regarding the Australasian FX Motocross Championship by the ARTRP in the coming days, according to O’Neill.