03/06/2010
Team Suzuki Press Office - June 3.
Jay Foreman is Team Manager for the Australian Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki Motocross and Supercross Teams with new riders and a new challenge on his hands in 2010.
"In 2010, Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki is running new riders in both the Pro Open and Pro Lites classes: In Pro Lites we are defending a Championship in both Motocross and Supercross. With Matt Moss heading stateside, Lawson Bopping has stepped up to ride the fuel-injected RM-Z250. Lawson previously rode for the Raceline Pirelli Suzuki Development Team but his results have seen him move to the factory outfit.
"Our 2010 results in Pro Lites so far have been mixed: Setting the bike up for a new rider takes some time. We had three years working with Matt where we knew exactly how he wanted the bike set up. We've had experience racing, and winning, with the injected 250, but we are working through getting the suspension set-up right for Lawson. These things will take some time to develop, but his speed is there which can be seen in his qualifying results. It also takes some time for a new rider to adapt to a new team.
"In the Pro Open class, Cody Cooper has returned from New Zealand to pilot the RM-Z450. Cody has plenty of international experience having competed in the AMA outdoors and achieving good results. As with Lawson, the exact same things apply to Cody: Cody tried to set the bike up "US style", but because the tracks in Australia are so different, we had to revise our set up. Now we are back on track and seeing really good improvement in results. Cody has shown great speed, but we need to work on him getting out in the first three off the start. The shorter race-format here is not helping our cause, but Cody has the speed to run up front.
"I am sure both riders will be winning races by the end of the season and hopefully carrying momentum through to Supercross."