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Shift Motul Suzuki ready for Wodonga

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 23:30

With 12 months’ experience on revolutionary new machinery and a blend of experience and youthful energy in a new-look motocross rider roster, Team Shift Motul Suzuki heads to Wodonga, Victoria, this Sunday full of confidence for the opening round of the 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals.

Multiple National Champion and Australian motocross elder statesman Cameron Taylor will head the Team Shift Motul Suzuki Pro Open assault onboard the fuel-injected Suzuki RM-Z450. Taylor continues with Team Shift Motul Suzuki in 2009 bringing a wealth of experience, carving a career of impeccable riding performances and championship success both in Australia and internationally. His CV reads like a who’s who of Australian motocross, with a string of junior and senior titles and race successes in Australia, the US and Europe.

After finishing in the top five as a privateer in the 2008 National Motocross Championship, Taylor is set to consistently challenge for the 2009 title onboard his new Suzuki.

He will be partnered by rising young star Matt Moss in Pro Lites, riding the same RM-Z250 he used to claim the inaugural Australasian SuperX Pro Lites title last year.

Since he started riding at the age of three and racing at the age of four in Nowra (NSW), Moss has climbed towards the top level of the sport. Riding 60cc machines, Moss was a regular front-runner in New South Wales competition, finishing third in the 1995 State titles before taking the crown the following year. He added further state titles to his resume in 1997 and 1999, before tasting National success in 2000 in the 85cc ranks, cementing himself as a future star of the sport.

In 2001 and 2002, Moss coupled his local racing with trips to New Zealand and America, winning his second National title with Suzuki in 2002, and finishing seventh in the 85cc Super Mini class at the World Mini event held in America. In the lead-up to his 2008 Pro Lites championship campaigns, he enjoyed a successful return to Suzuki, winning the Stroke Supercross Summer Nationals and the Stadium Motocross Series.

An injury interrupted 2008 motocross season saw him finish ninth, however of the five rounds he lined up in, he finished on the podium three times, including two wins.

In the 2008 NSW State Championship Moss took out both the Pro Open and Pro Lites titles, the perfect warm up to the fast approaching supercross season.

When the Australasian SuperX Championship rolled around, Moss had something to prove and he did not disappoint. In seven rounds, Moss recorded three wins and three seconds, enough to claim the Championship at the penultimate round.

Moss’ Australasian SuperX Championship resulted in an invitation to the 26th annual Dortmund Supercross. Moss had the pace to match it with the Europeans taking out the first race of the SX1 Class. A DNF in race two and ninth is race three resulted in fifth place overall.

Suzuki will also be represented by the Team Shift Motul Suzuki Development squad of promising tyros Lawson Bopping and Kieran Tisdale, riding RM-Z250s in the Pro Lites and U19 championship respectively. Nineteen-year-old Bopping has already tasted success at the 2007 Brisbane Indoor Supercross and finished runner-up in the National Motocross Championship Under 19s title race last year. His 18-year-old teammate already has international experience under his belt and finished third in the 2006 Australian Supercross Championship Junior Lites class and gained invaluable experience in last year’s Under 19 series.

The first round of the 2009 Motocross Nationals will be held at Albury Wodonga Motorcycle Club, located at Diamond Park on Wodonga’s Lincoln Causeway.

In a show of support for those affected by the recent Victorian bushfires, $10 per car will be charged as admission for Saturday's action, with all proceeds helping those in the sport that have been touched by the fires.

JAY FOREMAN - TEAM SHIFT MOTUL SUZUKI TEAM MANAGER
“We are confident of a strong 2009 with the experience we’ve gained from 12 months’ preparing the Suzuki RM-Z450 on the track. Testing over the summer months has been very promising and we will line up at Wodonga aiming for top spot on the podium. It’s an exciting mix of youth and experience with Cameron and Matt, both of whom performed superbly last year and come into the new season with high hopes.

"Cameron’s high levels of professionalism and experience will see him challenging for race wins at every event, while Matt looks set to take the next step and add a Pro Lites motocross championship to his bulging trophy cabinet this year.”

CAMERON TAYLOR - TEAM SHIFT MOTUL SUZUKI
“After the success we enjoyed in the Australasian SuperX Championship last year I’m really looking forward to the motocross races, particularly as part of a team with high levels of expertise like Team Shift Motul Suzuki. The new RM-Z450 was fantastic to ride in the SuperX series, and I’ve been blown away by just how good it is in motocross testing. Personally, I can’t wait for the gates to drop this weekend and start the campaign to put Suzuki back on top.

MATT MOSS – TEAM SHIFT MOTUL SUZUKI
“I’ve been waiting a long time for the season to start and show just how good the Suzuki RM-Z250 is. After winning the 2008 SuperX title, it has made me all the more determined to win the motocross crown as I’m confident we have the bike and the team to win that title, too. I’m really looking forward to learning as much as I can from Cam this year, given his experience. I feel really confident, given my form in the Australasian SuperX Championship and what I learned in Germany."