News 8 Dec 2010

Racing Insider #49

MotoOnline.com.au reflects on the latest happenings from last weekend's major race events.

Love them or hate them, the Moss twins live to win races on motorbikes and they do it extremely good. Image: Sport The Library.

Love them or hate them, the Moss twins live to win races on motorbikes and they do it extremely good. Image: Sport The Library.

Australian Supercross
Last weekend saw the season finale run and won in muddy conditions at Brisbane’s QSAC Stadium, where Josh Hansen was crowned the 2010 Monster Energy Super X, Australasian Supercross Champion.

While Hansen’s title was definitely well deserved as he again showed his skill in what were super tough conditions, it was the Lites title that all attention is now on since it’s been revealed that the point standings are under review.

You can see the whole story here, however something tells me this is going to get ugly before we have an official outcome. Is Matt Moss the champion for a third straight year, or will PJ Larsen add the Super X title to the MX Nationals crown he took earlier in the year?

Whatever the case – and I do believe both riders were the class of the field this year – I just hope that a fair decision is made and the guy who wins the title is the rightful owner of it.

Much of the talk following the race was an alleged fight between Hansen and Jake Moss, which I didn’t happen to see, however message boards are alight with accusations and claims right now.

Now, I know the Moss twins reasonably well and have done so for a very long time, and although they are definitely determined to be the best and can get involved in controversy on occasion, there’s no doubting that they are two of the most talented riders in the world.

There has been ongoing speculation that Global Action Sports won’t be involved in Supercross next year, which isn’t confirmed, however the word is that either way the series will be scaling back to a regional-type series next year before a big finale that will feature a host of Americans in a city-based stadium.

Here’s a quick update on the rider speculation that continues to gather momentum, although they’re yet to be announced or confirmed: Cheyne Boyd to Honda, Jake Moss to Serco Yamaha for MX Nationals and CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha for Super X, Dean Ferris to Kawasaki, Cody Cooper returns to Suzuki for Nationals.

The thing is in all of that, who will ride Super X for Suzuki if the Moss twins aren’t? There are a lot of good riders out there searching for seats right now, so perhaps the time’s right to give another good young Lites rider a shot at a 450. It’s worked for Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard and co. in the U.S…

Speaking of Kawasaki, the factory team is this week moving its base to Toowoomba in Queensland, now officially separated from Kevin Crutcher from Cool Air Conditioning.

Also, before we switch topics here, a big shout out has to go to Toby Price for a solid effort in his first Super X even in a number of years. Yes, the mud probably suited him, but the dual Australian Off Road Champion was impressive all weekend on what was a standard KTM 450 SX-F with his suspension in it.

Australian Superbike
We saw the Australian Superbike calendar released this week, which you can check out by clicking here, and it’s an eight-round series zig-zagging across Australia to make it a true national series.

The feedback so far as far as I can see in the iMoto Community Forum has been positive, so let’s hope that it continues to help grow the sport and get it back to full strength next season.

It’s now midway through December and we still don’t have an accurate account of who’s doing what in ASBK next year… Will Jamie Stauffer and Glenn Allerton be at Honda? Will Josh Waters stay in Australia? Is Shawn Giles retiring? Where is Wayne Maxwell headed? Is Shannon Johnson racing again? The list goes on.

As a reporter for the series I’ve put a fair bit of effort into finding out who is going where, but at this stage most are saying that they just don’t know yet. Well, holidays are coming up and magazines have all gone to print for the festive season, so we might just have to wait to see who rolls out of the pits on what bike come February at Phillip Island.

Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing won The 6 Hour for the second year in a row on Sunday. Image: Keith Muir.

Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing won The 6 Hour for the second year in a row on Sunday. Image: Keith Muir.

Australian Endurance
Last weekend’s 6 Hour at Phillip Island was a great race from what I’m told, and I for one can’t wait to see it on television as the Australian Endurance Championship continues to stake its claim on the Aussie racing calendar.

For me the standout was Josh Brookes’ pace in his first run on Sunday morning, dipping into the 1:33s and effectively gapping the field from the outset in his last ride on a Honda.

The partnership of Brookes and Wayne Maxwell was a very strong combination come race day, living up to their ‘dream team’ status that had been floating around before the race.

This race has a lot of potential for the years to come, one that could become the race to be in for a lot of our international stars as the seasons wind down – there’s certainly less pressure returning home for an endurance race than trying to enter a national level sprint race with little time on the bike.

We look forward to next season, that’s for sure.

Australian Off Road
MotoOnline.com.au’s headed to the Australian launch of the Husqvarna 450 Enduro and Motocross bikes today, where its’ expected that Glen Kearney will be confirmed on a two-year deal with the team.

Kearney is a former AORC champion and has been a leading contender in the U.S. Grand National Cross Country Series, but from what we hear he’ll definitely be back in Australia next season in another boost to the series.

Kearney on a Husky, Toby Price on a KTM and Chris Hollis, plus Stefan Merriman on Yamahas – 2011 is going to be a year to watch for the AORC series!

Thanks for reading once again everybody – we’ll be back next week for the final insider of the season.

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