The 2015 Australian Motocross Championships kick off at Horsham, in Victoria, this weekend with plenty of questions set to be answered.

Will the recent racing in New Zealand have been enough for several of the title hopefuls to give them an undeniable edge?

Will recently-crowned New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper and Australian Kirk Gibbs, who finished runner-up to Cooper in New Zealand, be picking up where they left off in Auckland a fortnight ago?

Will Tweed Heads rider Jay Wilson be able to kick on from his outstanding MX2 class win in New Zealand and move himself up from the No.4 position he occupied in Australia last year?

Will Takaka’s Hamish Harwood, who finished runner-up in the MX2 class in Australia last season and also finished runner-up to Wilson in New Zealand two weeks ago, finally be able to crack the No.1 position?

Will Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter be a threat in the MX2 class in Australia, despite having recently carved a niche for himself as a leading MX1 class rider on both sides of the Tasman?

How about Oamaru’s Joel Meikle, the talented young man from the South Island who has so quickly adapted to racing against the seniors in the MX2 class but will now attempt to uphold the Kiwi tradition of running at the front in the MX Development (Under-19) class?

Who can forget fellow Kiwi Kayne Lamont dominating the MXD class in Australia in 2012 and Harwood doing the same a season later? But can Meikle do it in 2015?

All these questions, and more, will have their answers by Sunday afternoon.

The build-up strategies of Gibbs and his KTM team-mate Luke Styke and Yamaha men Wilson, Jacob Wright and Kade Mosig in coming to New Zealand to sharpen up before the Australian nationals kick-off may pay huge dividends for them, with these riders having plenty of full-blooded race time under their wheels so early in the year.

But it won’t be easy; it never is.

The 2014 MX2 championship-winning Serco Yamaha team is set and ready to go hard again.

The defending champ, Luke Clout, and new recruit Jed Beaton are locked and loaded after the final shakedown of their race YZ250F machines last week and are both looking to get the season off to a good start at the Horsham circuit.

Clout comes into the championship after a two-month stint riding and training in the United States. Clout left Australia at Christmas and spent two months trying to improve his speed and technique at the Millsap’s training facility in the US.

He returned to Australia a couple of weeks ago to test and develop his bike and now feels he is in a good position to defend his championship.

“It was a bit of a dream coming true to win the MX2 championship last year but I knew I had to be faster and fitter if I wanted to defend the championship in 2015 so that’s why I went over to the US. To be able to ride and train every day with faster riders on well- maintained tracks makes for perfect preparation and combined with the development in our race bikes, I feel I’m better placed than what I was entering the 2014 season.

“It’s not going to be easy to win this championship and plenty of the younger guys have upped the pace but with the experience I gained from last year I hope that I’m a better, smarter and faster rider and that will be the ingredients to success this year,” Clout said.

Beaton had a break-out season in 2014, barnstorming into professional motocross at the tender age of 16 and instantly showing the speed and maturity of a seasoned veteran. Beaton was on track to win the MXD class before a leg injury took him out of the championship, but he has used is time wisely since recovering and has put in the hard yards over the off season.

This is a long championship, with 20 races to be run over five months, so it’s important for riders to be consistent every moto and to keep racking up points.

In the MX1 class there’s no going past defending champion Matt Moss, the Team Motul Suzuki rider back for another shot at glory and this year teamed with former MX2 class frontrunner Kale Makeham.

Adam Monea remains with Team Kawasaki, Kiwi hero Phillips his new team-mate with the temporary absence through injury of Matt Moss, and Monea could be one of the main challengers.

Former champion Dan Reardon returns to the domestic scene, lining up with the CDR Yamaha crew alongside Mosig and Wright, and he’s also touted as a contender.

© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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The 2015 Australian Motocross Championships calendar:

Round one: March 29, Horsham, Vic

Round two: April 12, Appin, NSW

Round three: April 26, Broadford, Vic

Round four: May 17, Murray Bridge, SA

Round five: May 31, Coolum, QLD

Round six: July 5, Raymond Terrace, NSW

Round seven: July 19, Shepparton, VIC

Round eight: August 2, Nowra, NSW

Round nine: August 23, Toowoomba, QLD

Round ten: August 30, Coolum, QLD