Queenslander Dan Reardon will return to Australia for JDR Motorsports KTM in 2011.

JDR Motorsports announced its 2011 rider line-up for the Australian Motocross and Supercross Championships this morning, confirming the news that Dan Reardon and Matt Moss will defect to KTM for next season.

Queenslander former multi-time national champion Reardon will return to Australia fulltime to ride the revolutionary 350 SX-F alongside returning team rider Ryan Marmont, who steps up to the Pro Open class for the first full season of his career.

“I’m really excited for 2011 and I believe the 350 SX-F will be the perfect bike to suit my riding style and build when I move into the Open class,” 25-year-old Marmont commented. “I’m stoked to be able to step up and it gives me something to strive for.

“It will be a learning year and I do have a lot of respect for the Open riders, but I hope to be competitive and I’m confident that I can be up there.”

While Reardon and Marmont will spearhead the team’s Pro Open challenge as current rider Tye Simmonds heads to JDR’s U.S. division, the Australian Lites campaign will be made up of Moss, Josh Cachia and Brenden Harrison.

Like Reardon, Moss returns home to Australia from the U.S. and enters the Lites titles as a favourite, while current Under 19s champion Cachia will make his debut in the Lites class at the MX Nationals.

“I’ve been involved with JDR for three years now so it feels just like home again for me to be joining the official JDR Motorsports KTM team,” Cachia said.

“I want to be competitive in the Lites. I want to push it with the top guys and I feel like I have the team and the bike to do it. I can’t wait to get started.”

Super X Lites defending champion Matt Moss will switch from Suzuki to JDR KTM for 2011. Image: Sport The Library.

Former Under 19s Champion Harrison will return to the team after joining JDR in a satellite role midway during 2010, the 21-year-old currently working hard to reach full fitness after sustaining a broken femur in July.

“I’m looking forward to riding a full season with JDR and it’s great to have a first class team behind me for next year,” the Queenslander said.

“I’ve been training a lot and going through physiotherapy, so I’ll do as many pre-season races as I can and try to be 110 percent ready for the first round.”

Current JDR Motorsports team manager Jay Rynenberg looks forward to seeing the fresh new line-up in action, confident that the Sydney-based team can continue its form into the new year.

“I am really excited for our 2011 line-up,” Rynenberg commented. “Not only are we still teamed up with KTM, but we have some great riders onboard which I feel really reflects the level JDR as a team has reached.

“Next year brings familiarity in Ryan and Josh, plus we have some new exciting talent coming through with Matt, Dan and Brenden.

“2010 has really been an up and down year for JDR Motorsports with some great results and the loss of Andrew McFarlane. With our 2011 team I really am confident that we will challenge for the Pro Open titles and defend our outdoor Lites title.

“Our partner KTM has a great line of bikes for 2011 which we have already been racing on, so more time to develop the bikes is an exciting and confidence-inspiring thought. We will also be back onboard with Shift MX gear next year, so looking the part on the track is taken care of for us, too.”

The team will once again be racing in memory of the late Andrew ‘Sharky’ McFarlane, who tragically passed away after an incident earlier this season as the lead rider on the JDR Motorsports KTM team.

“Losing Andrew McFarlane was a huge loss to the entire racing industry and a loss that we will never forget,” Rynenberg explained. “I hope for 2011 we can put our KTMs out front again for Sharky and his whole family.”

The team’s 2011 campaign will commence at next year’s MX Nationals season opener to be held at Broadford in Victoria on 6 March.