Preview: 2014 Australian Supercross Championship

The five-round 2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship will begin with a Bathurst double-header on October 10 and 11, with organisers hoping that motorsport-hungry V8 Supercar revellers will help swell the spectator numbers on both the Friday and Saturday nights -- especially with Monster Truck mayhem also on the entertainment bill.

The defending champion in the premier SX1 class is Suzuki’s Matt Moss, fresh from representing Australia at the recent Motocross of Nations in Latvia.

Moss has a happy knack of producing the goods when the pressure is on, and he’ll have plenty of riders pushing him hard like his brother Jake (Kawasaki), Jay Marmont (Honda), Kirk Gibbs (KTM), Adam Monea (Kawasaki) – who has missed the last two years with injury -- Kade Mosig (Yamaha), Lawson Bopping (Kawasaki) and Daniel McCoy (TM). Jake Moss was second in the 2014 championship, with Marmot fourth and McCoy fifth.
Meanwhile, Gibbs pushed Moss all the way in the 2014 Aussie motocross title and is now looking to go one better in the shorter form of the game.

“I am really looking forward to the start of the supercross season,” Gibbs said. “I am a lot better prepared than I was last year.

“In 2013 we had a really short turn around following motocross, it was my first year on the 450 and I carried an injury into the opening round which wasn’t ideal. This year I am 100 per cent healthy and a lot more comfortable with my speed, preparation and the bike.

“There are a lot of guys in the 450 class who are all within half a second of each other so I think overall success will come down to starts and consistency.”

Marmont comes into the championship on a Honda after riding a Yamaha in the motocross title. Yamaha chose not to contest the supercross title, which left Marmont free to explore other options.

“I have been speaking to the Penrite Oil Honda Racing team over the past two months,” Marmont said. “I knew I had something left in me and I still love riding and racing.

“I always wanted to race supercross this year and I can’t thank Penrite Oil, Honda and their team sponsors enough.  Without them giving me a chance I would be sitting on the couch and I am not ready for that.”

Bathurst Showground will undergo a complete transformation for the opening two rounds, with over 4000 tonnes of dirt trucked in to create the supercross arena.

The other championship classes at Bathurst will be SX2 and SXD (development class for 16-U19), and there will also be support events for women, juniors and intermediate and clubman riders.

All the action kicks off at 7:00pm on both nights. Ticket prices start at $35 per event for adults, $25 for children 3-16 and $100 for a family (two adults and two children). To purchase tickets, click HERE
.

Following Bathurst, the championships heads to Phillip Island on October 18-19 (alongside MotoGP), with the finale to be held in Brisbane on November 8. For more information visit www.australiansupercross.com.au.