Image: Foremost Media.

AUS SX Holdings has confirmed that the 2020 Australian Supercross Championship has been cancelled as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a decision made by series organisers and Motorcycling Australia (MA), the focus has now been shifted to next year due to uncertainty surrounding travel and crowds.

“It’s really disappointing for us and all involved with Supercross in Australia to have to cancel this year’s series,” said AUS SX Holdings co-founder Adam Bailey.

“We wanted to hold out for as long as we could, to try and get some semblance of Supercross competition up and running for this year and actually things were looking great for a fantastic 2020 series only a few weeks ago. With the ever-changing situation we’re up against with COVID, however, evolving so rapidly recently, we have no choice but to cancel this year’s series.

“We just don’t have 100 percent certainty that we can safely and successfully deliver a calibre of a series that we expect of ourselves and that fans and competitors deserve.

“Supercross has been on a massive upward trend and we’re working tirelessly to ensure that this growth pattern continues. We are striving to create a sustainable, globally recognised platform for our Australian talent to showcase their skills and are committed to delivering this in 2021 and beyond.”

Motorcycling Australia (MA) CEO Peter Doyle added: “It’s unfortunately a similar picture many sports face due the border closures, spectator restrictions and differing legislation in each state around COVID-19.

“The time, effort and large financial input required to run Supercross in this environment is a huge gamble and we thank and support AUS SX Holdings for their efforts and decision to cancel. Everyone can now focus on 2021 when hopefully this pandemic is behind us.”

It became evident late last month that AUS Supercross wouldn’t be going ahead for 2020 when MA’s latest plans for the Australian Motocross Championship indicated that it would potentially be running into December if restrictions are eased during the final quarter.

Supercross organisers have been largely silent on the matter throughout 2020, still yet to specifically address the future of the AUS-X Open Melbourne or S-X Open Auckland, which both formed part of the Australian and Oceania series last season.