News 6 Aug 2020

CDR owner Dack insists outdoors should go ahead if possible

Image: Supplied.

Motorcycling Australia (MA) should keep pressing forward in its bid to host the Australian Motocross Championship in 2020, CDR Yamaha Monster Energy team owner Craig Dack has insisted as the sport moves to establish a new era at a national level.

Dack has operated the winningest team in Australian motocross history for over 25 years and, despite coronavirus presenting immense challenges globally, he is adamant that plans should be set in place to line-up later this year if the possibility is there.

Following the early departure of Williams Event Management (WEM) as promoter of the MX Nationals in late June, MA has been working to get an internally-managed motocross series off the ground, but has faced ongoing hurdles with a second wave of COVID-19 prompting state border closures and added restrictions in various parts of the country. It’s also been working to save this year’s Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) and Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) in recent months.

Defending MX1 champion and now Husqvarna-supported team owner Todd Waters yesterday suggested that the governing body should pause competition until 2021 in an effort to stabilise the series, however, that way of thinking has been met with disappointment from Dack, who himself was a multi-time Australian champion during his generation of racing.

“That’s what we are – professional racing teams,” Dack commented when queried by MotoOnline. “So, to hear Todd Waters think we should pull up for the year, that’s disappointing. I mean, the sport of motocross was left in a pretty bad position when the previous promoter, WEM, pulled out at the 11th hour, so that certainly didn’t help anything.

“I’ve been talking with MA, trying to help wherever I can, just as a passionate person that’s been in the industry for 30-odd years, to assist them in putting the pieces back together, really. Why wouldn’t we all try and make something happen if we had to? All my partners, we’re ready to go either way if we do or don’t race. We’re fine, we’ve brokered deals and all our partners are understanding of both ways.

“I just think that we owe it to the sport to give it its best go. Think of the position that Motorcycling Australia has been left in. You know, they’ve got off-road, motocross, supercross, road racing, all getting pushed back to those last three or four months of the year because of COVID obviously, so if they don’t keep trying to put a championship forward, they would be derelict in their position. That’s what they have to do and we should be supporting that.”

MotoOnline broke the news that a selection of team owners led by Penrite Honda Racing’s Yarrive Konsky had been investigating options to set up a hub of sorts for a rapid-fire outdoor series to take place within a single state, which Dack commended, but it still appears that MA’s strategy of forming a condensed multi-state series in the final quarter of the year will be the likely, more traditional step.

“Talk of the hub was all blown out of proportion,” added Dack. “There’s been four of us getting together – myself, Yarrive, Gavin Eales and Mark Luksich – and, when motocross was left high and dry at the 11th hour, we have been trying to help MA as four positive people, not four negative people.

“MA are doing a really, really good job at the moment with a really good vibe, because everybody I speak to, friends of mine like Marty Craggill, John Chiodo from Monza, all the pure motorcycle people in the sport really like [MA CEO] Peter Doyle. He’s a motorcyclist, like me, like you, and we all forget that. As long as we don’t forget who we are – motorcyclists who are good people – if we all pull together, we’re going to be strong.

“That’s what’s happening and what I’m feeling with MA. We’ve got people who are very keen to help MA because it’s being led by a good leader. It really is. How many people have been able to say that for a lot of years? It’s a fact that Peter Doyle’s doing a good job.

“The hub thing came up as an option, it was discussed, and I never thought that could ever happen because it’s a lot more complicated than it looks, but Yarrive was doing some investigation, doing his bit as another passionate person of the sport and that’s a good thing. We want more positive stuff, not the negatives. There’s a big chance [racing’s] not going to happen as well, I realise that, but let’s at least have a positive frame of mind – that approach that keeps you going.”

CDR Yamaha Monster Energy will once again field Kirk Gibbs if the Australian Motocross Championship goes ahead this year, alongside new team signing Hayden Mellross, who is contracted to complete the outdoor and Australian Supercross Championship riding the factory-backed YZ450F.

News 5 Aug 2020

Preference of Waters is to pause national racing until 2021

Image: Foremost Media.

Australian MX1 champion Todd Waters has tentatively called for national competition to be paused until 2021 as escalating government restrictions and border closures continue to complicate Motorcycling Australia’s (MA) plans to form a new outdoor series.

Waters, who launched his own Berry Sweet-backed Husqvarna team this season, has faced numerous challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic and has indicated that beginning from a clean slate next year would now be ideal.

Since COVID-19 has halted racing, Waters has been rapidly expanding his business interests on the Gold Coast, and remains cautious that a condensed Australian motocross calendar could result in additional compromises at the top-level of the sport domestically. Reduced budgets and a lack of information to plan forward has also impacted his decision-making process.

“We’re going to have to put some thought into it with budgets and things like that,” Waters told MotoOnline. “I’ve been racing here in Queensland, but as for nationals, I can’t see how that’s going to be possible at the minute. I’m hoping that they’re going to be like, ‘it’s been a tricky year, let’s come back in 2021 with a proper championship’.

“I’ve heard that they’ve got TV rights planned, so I’d like to see everybody putting their time and effort into next year rather than trying to pull something together in a short amount of time to run a successful championship. It just makes sense to me that from, say July, next year we aim for a serious 10-round championship on TV.

“On the other hand, racing’s racing and I do love it. It’s just tough to commit to a championship that I don’t know anything about. Even the hub that’s been spoken about, it’s all good and well, but I can’t see how anyone can afford to do that or organise it… it’s a big thing. I’d do my best to try and be there, but it would be difficult.

“For defending a championship, how do we train for that? We don’t know what’s happening and have been in limbo for a long time now. I’ve just been doing a lot of base fitness, so I’ve got no intensity in my riding without any races to aim for, so I’m at about 50-60 percent of where I’d need to be to race a championship. From the team’s side, it’s obviously very difficult with a lot of sponsors pulling out or back and putting things on hold.

“I’ve spent this time trying to create incomes elsewhere, even being on the tools myself with the T-Dub Garage. I’ve been running some riding schools as well, trying to adapt and find different avenues. I was supposed to be paid this year to ride and run a team, but now both of those aren’t sustaining an income, so I’ve had to go in other directions, but in some ways it’s been good for me to start those small businesses.”

KTM Group yesterday announced that its in-house factory enduro teams would be benched for the remainder of 2020 regardless of if MA eventually restarts the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), which Waters had also committed to this year. Without Daniel Sanders or Daniel Milner competing, the 29-year-old is uncertain if he will invest in the remaining rounds.

“That’s a shame because I guess that means that the two Daniels wouldn’t be racing and they’re the reason I’m there,” he continued. “To race an Australian championship without the elite guys there – and you obviously have the Yamaha guys there, so you can’t count anyone out – but it’s a strange time. I saw Tasmania is still on the cards, which is something I’d probably have to sit out, although if it was achievable and within driving distance, I’d like to race.”

It’s anticipated that MA could release further information on its plans to manage and promote the Australian Motocross Championship as soon as this week, while discussions are still taking place in the background in an effort to develop the previously-reported hub in a bid to salvage the season. How the ongoing border closures will affect those plans remains unseen.