Team Shift Motul Suzuki has announced young up-and-coming star Lawson Bopping will replace injured rider, Luke Burkhart for round six of the Australian Motocross Championship at Toowoomba in Queensland this weekend.

The dynamic 17-year-old is set to pilot the RM-Z250 in the Pro Lites class while Burkhart recovers from recent thumb surgery that will see him sidelined for the remainder of the series.

Snapped up by the factory Suzuki squad, Bopping is available to race in the Pro Lites category this weekend because the U19 class of the Australian Motocross Championship he usually contests is not on the program for the Toowoomba event.

Bopping - who is expected to be a valuable asset to the Suzuki team - already has Pro Lites experience having competed in the class for the 2007 Australian Supercross Championship in which he finished fifth overall.

Meanwhile, in the Pro Open class, Team Shift Motul Suzuki's Daryl Hurley will be looking to repeat his previous dominant performances at the Toowoomba circuit and close the gap to series leader Daniel Reardon. 

Lawson Bopping:
"I'm stoked. I've been riding the RM-Z250 as a satellite entry with lots of support from Team Shift Motul Suzuki, but to get to ride as part of the factory squad on a full-factory-prepared bike is awesome. "
"This will be my first time racing at Toowoomba so I've got to get up to speed with the track pretty quickly, but at least I'm already very comfortable on the RM-Z250 so that should work for me this weekend."

Jay Foreman - Team Manager:
"It's great for the team to have our Pro Lites bike back on the track in Toowoomba - great for the team, for Suzuki and, importantly, for our sponsors. "
"Lawson is only a young kid but he's already shown he's got plenty of speed and this track should suit his riding style. He has the advantage of having raced in the Lites class earlier this year for the Supercross championship, so he already knows what he's up against."
"In Pro Open, Daryl's always done really well at Toowoomba and you'd expect him to be strong again this weekend. We've made several changes to his RM-Z450 this past week, so we will wait and see what gains that brings."