Sunraysia is set to play host to the most important event on the annual Australian Dirt Track calendar this weekend.
The North West Victorian Motorcycle Club will host the Edge Hotel Motel Australian Dirt Track title on Saturday at its newly resurfaced Jamberoo Park circuit.
The event is shaping up as a locals-versus-visitors showdown, featuring the cream of the nation's dirt track riding talent.
At a local level former national champion Rowan Tegart and Josh Waters will lead the charge.
Tegart made a spectacular return after injury at the Victoria Dirt Track titles, also held at Jamberoo Park, in June this year and wowed Sunraysia race fans with some titanic battles with reigning Australian champion Luke Gough.
Tegart ended the event with two Victorian titles to his name and came second to Gough in the up to 450cc four-stroke class.
Waters meanwhile has enjoyed a stellar year on the Australian road race scene, taking third overall in the Australian Supersport championship, and is expected to be challenging for national honours this weekend as he returns to the sport which set him on the path to road racing success.
The Sunraysia rider will be competing on the Team Shift Motul Suzuki's of Daryl Hurley and Luke Burkhart this weekend.
The visiting onslaught meanwhile features like a who's who of Australian dirt track racing.
The aforementioned Luke Gough is the reigning Australian Dirt Track and Long Track champion and clinched this year's up to 450cc four-stroke Victorian title at Jamberoo Park.
The talented New South Welshman is competing in his last season on Australian shores before jetting off to compete in the United States next year.
Six-times Australian Dirt Track champion Paul Caslick has confirmed he'll be racing at Jamberoo Park, bringing with him not only a wealth of experience, but the blistering speed which has made him one of the most successful dirt track riders in Australia over the past decade.
If last year's national title is anything to go by, Gough and Caslick should produce some intense racing, as the pair finished first and second respectively in both the 450cc and Over 450cc four-stroke classes in 2006.
Reigning national 250cc four-stroke champion Rohan Tungate will also be in action this weekend.
Tungate is on a roll at the moment after taking out both the 250cc and 450cc four-stroke classes at the recent New South Wales Long Track titles.
Ian Hamilton and Damien Koppe, who came third and fifth respectively in last year's national 450cc title will ensure there's no less than five or six riders capable of taking the national title at Jamberoo Park.
This year's Australian Dirt Track title also has an international flavour with the addition of English rider James Heaton.
Heaton is a top class UK supermoto, short track and grass track rider, keen to sample racing on Australian soil.
This year's event has also attracted a record number of sidecars in the 1100cc class with no less than 13 outfits ready to thrash it out for this year's national title.
This year's event features a departure from the usual format.
In past years, the Australian Dirt Track title was held over two days. This year it will be held over one exciting day, providing a packed day of racing for spectators.
Riders will be greeted with a perfectly manicured circuit following a massive upgrade to the circuit over the past month.
More than 600 tonnes of sand has been trucked in to provide the perfect surface for riders when they take to the track on Saturday.
Racing starts from 9am.
