Preview: 2015 MX Nationals

The 10-round 2015 MX Nationals begins in Horsham (Vic) on Sunday, March 29, with Suzuki's two-time defending champion Matt Moss the man with the target on his back after a stellar 2014.

Moss will be joined by a new teammate in Kale Makeham as he begins his title defence in the premier MX1 class, fresh from competing in the opening few rounds of the 2015 AMA supercross title and then coming home to get married.

“I am feeling confident heading into the season, my dad has been working with me down at the Moss Institute on the bike and I have a new personal trainer on-board for this season and what she has been able to teach me so far has been really good," Moss said. “All in all the off the bike training I have been doing has been tenfold anything else I have done before!
“At the end of the day we are working towards having the number one plate again at the end of the season, I know I am capable of it and definitely the team is so we are looking the goods.”

Matt's twin brother Jake Moss (Kawasaki) will be missing from round one with injury, to be replaced by 23-year-old New Zealander John Phillips, but based on paper Moss' biggest title threat in 2015 will come from  KTMs Kirk Gibbs, who finished second overall in 2014 ahead of Scot Billy Mackenzie.

The other distributor-backed riders are Kade Mosig and Dan Reardon for Yamaha, Ford Dale and Cody Cooper for Honda, Adam Monea (Kawasaki) and KTM's Luke Styke, returning home after a year on the world motocross trail. Jesse Dobson and Aaron Tanti will also receive factory backing from Husqvarna.

Reardon, 28, is a former multiple Australia motocross champion and is returning after a three-year hiatus form racing, during which time he has keep himself in peak physical condition – so he's not restarting from such a low base.

"I stopped racing a few years ago because I lost the passion for it and was just burnt out,” Reardon said. “The fun wasn’t there anymore but after doing a couple of dirt track races at the end of 2014, I found myself wanting to ride more and more. I borrowed a bike from a family friend to see if this was just a flash in the pan or if I was serious about it.

“Suddenly, I was out riding every day and really enjoying it. It was like I was 16 again! I was the guy calling everyone wanting to ride so I set some goals for myself and contacted a few people to see what support I could get but really only expecting a fill-in ride at best. That was fine with me as I wanted to race anyway and was prepared to do it regardless but making contact with CDR changed things."

CDR's third rider, young gun Jacob Wright, will miss the MX Nationals -- aka the Australian Motocross Championship -- with a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Luke Clout (Yamaha) will defend the MX2 title on a Yamaha, and in the MXD the country's best teenage talent will again battle it out.

In 2015, if you can't get to the track(s), you can watch the MX Nationals live, or on demand, here. And it won't cost a cent!

Live coverage will extend across all three championship classes, and include every moto.

Horsham is about three-and-a-half hour from Melbourne. The track is situated at Dooen Recreation Reserve on Henty Highway.

How much?
Adults $30
Kids 5-15 $20
Kids under five free
Family (two adults and two kids 5-15) $70.00

What time?
Gates open 7:30am
Practice Starts 8:30am
Racing from 10:40am