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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Sage Swinton

Champion hails Newcastle a 'mecca of motocross' as Triple Crown set-up begins

About 6000 tonnes of dirt is being laid and many more thousand of fans are getting ready for heart-racing action as the Australian Supercross Championship hits McDonald Jones Stadium this Saturday.

The Broadmeadow venue will host the second round of the championship, the AUSX Triple Crown, on November 11.

It comes a year after the stadium hosted Supercross racing for the first time in 13 years.

The 2022 champion Matt Moss returned to the stadium on November 9 ahead of the weekend's big event.

Jack Nunn, Dean Wilson and Matt Moss ahead of the AUSX Triple Crown at McDonald Jones Stadium. Picture by Marina Neil

"Last year was a dream for me, my first win in seven years," Moss said.

"When you get that win, it's always a special place to come back to.

"Pretty close to you, only two hours away. So it's pretty much my local race. So all my friends and family and supporters will come to this race.

"It's going to be great. I think the atmosphere is amazing. They really do a good track here."

Last year's event attracted a crowd of more than 15,000, and Moss said it was "one of the best events" he'd been to.

"I think it's a mecca of motocross in Newcastle," Moss said.

"I coach a lot of kids up here. There's a lot of tracks up this way. There's a lot of racing kids around here.

"To race here in front of people that love the sport, I think that's why it's such a great event."

Last year's champion Matt Moss returns to Newcastle for this year's event. Picture by Marina Neil

One of those kids coached by Moss is 14-year-old Jack Nunn, who was also on hand at the stadium as crews were setting up the track on November 9.

It will be Nunn's first time racing at the Turton Road arena.

"I'm so excited," Nunn said.

"I can't wait to race in front of all these people. It will be so sick."

The pair were joined by Scottish rider Dean Wilson, who is based in the United States.

"It's beautiful here," Wilson said. "I just had some brekky on the beach. The stadium looks cool, big floor plan so it should be a really good track."

The dreary Newcastle weather was also a change from Abu Dhabi, where Wilson and Moss recently competed in the World Supercross Championship.

"The weather is a lot nicer [here]," Wilson said. "It's pretty hot and humid in Abu Dhabi.

"But it was good, I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun over there, a lot of excitement and hopefully we bring that excitement here."

About 6000 tonnes of dirt will be laid on the ground for the event. Picture by Marina Neil

And while he rated last year's event so highly, Moss said he expected this Saturday to be even better.

"Last year probably we were a bit short of of professional racers. But this year we've got a stacked field of 20 and I think it's going to be really, really good racing.

"The track's just a lot better than what we're used to. We're obviously a lot of the times indoors and it's a tighter track, which was at Adelaide. So this year at McDonald's James Stadium, it's going to be some good racing."

However, last year's championship in Newcastle also resulted in a court dispute between Venues NSW and AUSX Events over the condition the playing surface was left in after the event.

The turf will need to be in working order for the Jets' next home clash, a Newcastle-Central Coast derby, on November 25.

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