There is a new 10 round Supercross national series that will start on January 17 including free to air television rights.
The new series run by Sports and Entertainment Ltd (SEL) under the banner of Australian Motorcycle Racing Corporation (AMRC) is
a culmination of a lot of hard work in conjunction with manufacturers, teams, sporting bodies and event promoters,
SEL the marketing arm of AVESCO, the company that runs the V8 Supercar series have now broadened their appeal cashing
in on the growing popularity of dirt bikes in Australia.
Mark Skaife, Holden Racing team franchise owner has seen first hand the benefits of SEL telling Fullnoise. "Its a
great indicative of the sport that SEL would want to get involved. You've seen what they've done for V8 Supercar
and i am sure that will follow suit with Supercross"
Whilst the new series has been the worse kept secret in motorsport it will undoubtedly place a burden on teams
logistically and financially. With only four months to prepare before the first round there is little time for
teams lower down the pecking order to get organised. No purse structure or privateer incentives have as yet been
released.
The announcement of the series sees racing commitments almost double compared to this year with the SEL series
being followed by 8 rounds of the Motocross Championship then 6 rounds of the Australian Supercross Championship.
Whilst Television coverage on Network 10 has been the big carrot the pressures of a 12 week weeks will force
teams and riders to back it up week in and week out.
It should also be noted the SEL's "National Supercross
Championships" is not the official Australian Supercross Championship, the Official Australian Supercross Championship
is still being run by Spokes Promotions on dates currently being finalised. We would except that 2004 will be the only
year this will happen as one of the series would have succumb to the pressure, not to mention the huge load doing two
series would place on teams and riders.
KTM's Rob Twyerold said. "Just think how good our riders will be after such an intense 3 months we're all excited at
the prospect of having to do only Supercross then Motocross, rather than switching back and forth like this year.
Honda's Mick Smith was also as enthusiastic about the new series. "The way the series works we can retire our Supercross
bikes and move into Motocross.
Craig Dack: ‰ÛÏThis is a fantastic opportunity for the teams and means bigger and better things for the sport in general.
Not only will we benefit from the organisational strength and experience of SEL, proven through their record with V8,
but the greater exposure on TV and quality venues will also mean greater marketing and promotional opportunities for the teams‰Û
