Reed, Byrne and Metcalfe for Motocross of Nations
And some locally based reservesAustralia has announced its three-man team for the 2009 Motocross of Nations (MoN) in Italy on October 3-4, and it holds no surprises: Chad Reed, Michael Byrne and Brett Metcalfe.
Reed will contest the MX1 class, Byrne MX2 and Metcalfe MX3.
“It’s always a hard thing to select a team from a pool of riders don’t regularly race one another,” long-time Australian team manager Gary Benn said.
“But these three are very much the in-form riders at the moment, and I’m confident we’ve chosen the right guys to do the job.
“Last year Chad hadn’t raced in the (American) MX outdoor season and was also on his new Suzuki bike, whereas this year he’s racing a full season of outdoors and should be much better prepared.”
Jay Marmont and Matt Moss, who won the Open and Lites classes in the recently concluded Australian Motocross Championship, will be reserves in MX1/MX2 and MX3 respectively, while Daniel Reardon is they second cover for Reed and Byrne.
“Obviously barring injury, our top three selected riders will be out there representing Australia, but these guys have certainly earned their place on the team,” Benn said.
“On paper I feel this team should be able to easily run top-three, but we thought the same last year.
“This time around conditions will be the same for everyone, and our guys will certainly have a point to prove to show everybody how strong they are.
“At this stage they’re all injury-free and performing well, so hopefully we head to Italy in just as good shape and get on that podium.”
Meanwhile, Australis has announced its 2009 MoN team, and the riders will be Ivan Tedesco, Ryan Dungey and Jake Weimer.
New Zealand's team is Josh Coppins, Scotty Columb and Michael Phillips. Ben Townley and Cody Cooper were unavailable for selection.
The MoN will be held at Franciacorta, which is also the same name of a win produced in the same region – Lombardy.
The 2008 Donington Park-hosted MoN was claimed by the USA, with the trio of James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry taking all before them. Australia was sixth.
Pic: Michael Byrne
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