Yamaha Junior Racing product Levi Rogers will graduate to the MXD category in 2020 with Yamalube Yamaha Racing, while the squad has retained Jay Wilson for a third consecutive season in the MX2 class.

In another Yamaha team restructure for 2020, Yamalube Yamaha Racing will re-enter the MXD category for the first time since 2017, abandoning its MX1 effort that was headed up by class rookie Richie Evans in 2019.

Queensland’s Rogers enters the MXD division after a strong showing at the 2019 KTM Australian Junior Motocross Championship (AJMX), earning runner-up honours in the 125cc 15 Years title fight.

“I was pretty excited when the Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team came to me and offered me a ride for 2020,” Rogers stated. “I guess one of the benefits of being with Yamaha Junior Racing is that if you get the results in juniors, then the next door opens with Yamaha into MXD and this is a great opportunity for me on such a good team.

“I know everyone on the team and have worked with them before when I did the MXR races at the MX Nationals for the last two years, so it’s not a new environment. I also have Jay as a team-mate, and I can talk things over with him as he has so much knowledge and experience at this level.

“For the last 12 months I have watched the senior races closely and I can’t wait to be apart of them now. Yamaha Junior Racing was awesome for me and I had six successful years with them but now its time to take the next step in my career and give it all I have.”

Former MX2 and SX2 Wilson, who will race the opening five rounds of the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, returns for his third straight year with the Queensland-based operation.

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by a great team and work with a great company like Yamaha that I don’t event look elsewhere at the end of each year,” Wilson explained. “We have not only a successful working relationship but a good friendship off the track and the results show we do the work.

“2019 was a consistent year for the most part and reasonably successful but no championships. I’m still motivated to win championships and that’s what I will be striving for in 2020. I’m in the prime of my career and want to keep improving every year with my racing and my technique.

“It’s also exciting to have Levi with us next year. He is a quiet kid and doesn’t say too much but I know he listens, and it will be great to be able to help and guide him at each round. His speed is good, and I think he can do well if he keeps working hard.”

The addition of Rogers confirms the departure of Evans after two seasons with the team.

WBR Yamaha Bulk Nutrients Racing has signed AJMX champion Alex Larwood to contest the MXD category of the 2020 MX Nationals, while the team will re-enter the MX2 class with Maximus Purvis amid a restructure.

South Australian Larwood, who made his professional debut at the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne last month, enters the WBR squad after five years of being developed through the Yamaha Junior Racing program.

“At the start of the year, Shane Metcalfe sat me down and asked what I wanted to do in 2020 and where I wanted to be racing and my answer was with Yamaha and at WBR,” Larwood explained.

“So to put in all the hard work, get some good results and then actually get the ride with the team is an awesome reward and I can’t thank Travis and everyone at WBR Yamaha for giving me this chance.

“We have already got things underway and the team also helped out a bit in supercross, and I can’t wait to get racing in 2020. I look forward to riding the MX Nationals tracks, working with the team and learning more about the bike and how racing works and getting to race different riders on new tracks. I’m ready and can’t wait.”

Purvis will graduate to the MX2 category following a stellar MXD campaign in 2019, where he charged to runner-up honours in the development class.

“Making the step up from MXD to MX2 is pretty big and I’m pleased that Yamaha found a way for me to be part of it with the WBR Yamaha team,” Purvis commented. “I know the guys on the team well and I also know we have a great bike, so it takes out the uncertainty of not only changing classes but teams.

“While I’m in Australia, I live in Shepparton, which is only a couple of hours from the teams’ base in Echuca so that also makes my life easier. We have built a good base together in 2019 and hopefully we can build on that in 2020 and I can establish myself as a top five guy in the MX2 class throughout 2020.”

The Kiwi will contest the New Zealand MX Nationals at the beginning of 2020 with JCR Yamaha.

Motorcycling Australia (MA) has revealed the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship will visit Tasmania for the first time next year, while confirmation of a Victorian venue sees the 2020 calendar near completion.

A 2020 schedule was released last month detailing the dates and hosting states of the series, before Toowoomba, Dungog and Nowra were announced as the venues of the first three stops.

Omeo in Victoria will host the penultimate stop of the championship for rounds nine and 10 on 19-20 September, as Wynyard in Tasmania will serve up the season-finale on 17-18 October.

Hometown favourite and four-time EnduroGP world champion Matthew Phillips is understood to have played a pivotal role in securing the championship round in Tasmania.

Five of the six locations have been confirmed, leaving just the South Australian stop, scheduled on 1-2 August for rounds seven and eight, to be announced.

Updated 2020 Australian Off-Road Championship calendar:
Rds 1-2 – 22-23 February – Toowoomba, Queensland
Rds 2-3 – 14-15 March – Dungog, New South Wales
Rds 5-6 – 18-19 April – Nowra, New South Wales
Rds 7-8 – 1-2 August – TBA, South Australia
Rds 9-10 – 19-20 September – Omeo, Victoria
Rds 11-12 – 17-18 October – Wynyard, Tasmania