The motocross racing was short but sweet in the Manawatu at the weekend.

Heavy rain on Saturday and again overnight ruined an otherwise brilliant farmland circuit just outside Feilding, forcing organisers to cancel day two of the 2011 New Zealand Veterans’ and Women’s Motocross Championships early on Sunday morning.

With vehicles having to be towed out of the venue at the conclusion of Saturday’s racing, the warning signs were there for the following day and, when rain again fell overnight on Saturday, the condition of the venue’s access point and the pit area became impossible.

That meant this year’s championships were decided after just three races per class and not five races in total, as had originally been planned.

But that did nothing to lessen the intensity of the racing or credibility of the titles, with fierce racing in difficult conditions on Saturday a true test for champions.

Perhaps closest of all was the battle for honours in the senior women’s class, where defending champion Kimberley Murphy, of Rangiora, had to make way for fantastic duelling ahead of her on the track between Mangakino’s Alex Dillon and Taupo’s Emma Davis.

Seventeen-year-old Dillon (pictured above) finished 1-2-1 in her three races on Saturday, hounded throughout by the 24-year-old Davis, who managed 4-1-2, giving her a healthy seven-point advantage ahead of the anticipated second day that never came, meaning she had done enough to claim the crown.

Murphy eventually had to settle for fourth overall, behind Dillon, Davis and Bombay’s Courtney Lindsay.

Other title winners were Te Puke’s Dion Steiner (30-34 years’ under-300cc), Hamilton’s Dwayne Rameka (35-39 years’ under-300cc), Whakatane’s Darren Capill (40-44 years’ under-300cc and over-300cc), New Plymouth’s Mitch Rowe (45-59 years under-300cc and over-300cc), New Plymouth’s Richard Adamson (30-34 years’ over-300cc), Cambridge’s Nick Price (35-39 years’ over-300cc), Blenheim’s Moston Wadsworth (over 50 years’ all-in), Matakohe’s Simone Sidwell (junior women class one), New Plymouth’s Zoe Jurd (junior women class two) and Taupo’s Katrina Lee (veteran women, over-30 years).

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

Full story and more photos in your next issue of KIWI RIDER magazine.

RESULTS:

 

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	414	Alex Dillon	72	25	22	25	—	—
2	200	Emma Davis	65	18	25	22	—	—
3	521	Courtney Linsday	62	22	20	20	—	—
4	1	Kimberley Murphy	53	20	15	18	—	—
5	5	Kelly Kneebone	46	16	14	16	—	—
6	232	Rebecca Clark	45	13	18	14	—	—
7	288	Natasha Cairns	42	14	16	12	—	—
8	649	Nikita Knight	39	15	11	13	—	—
9	301	Ashlee Norman	31	12	9	10	—	—
10	380	Casey Waterhouse	30	11	13	6	—	—

VetWomen 30yrs

Pos	Nr.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	430	Katrina Lee	70	20	25	25
2	310	Michelle Ledbury	62	18	22	22
3	991	Helen Palmer	60	22	20	18
4	61	Donna Henderson	54	16	18	20
5	253	Marlene Woolley	32	—	16	16
6	115	Julie Managh	25	25	0	—

Junior Women Class 1

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	281	Simone Sidwell	72	25	22	25
2	71	Taylar Rampton	69	22	25	22
3	44	Alana Lane	54	20	16	18
4	90	Angla Bowater	54	18	20	16
5	95	Oceania Hardwidge	53	15	18	20

Junior Women Class 2

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	185	Zoe Jurd	62	25	15	22
2	63	Caitlin Ryan	61	16	20	25
3	218	Sarah Elwin	56	15	25	16
4	99	Jodie Wilson	56	20	22	14
5	07	Mikayla Rowe	56	22	16	18

 

Veterans 30-34 Unders

 

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	128	Dion Steiner	75	25	25	25
2	116	Nathan West	66	22	22	22
3	99	Craig Owen	20	—	20	—

 

Vets 30-34yrs Overs

 

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	201	Richard Adamson	75	25	25	25
2	301	Aron Greeks	66	22	22	22
3	223	Matt Redwood	55	20	20	15
4	165	Mark Mason	52	16	18	18
5	89	Wayne Dyet	51	15	16	20

 

Veterans 35-39yrs Unders

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	366	Dwayne Rameka	75	25	25	25
2	19	Dan Shallcrass	66	22	22	22
3	306	Brenton Wallace	60	20	20	20
4	50	Cameron Holland	18	0	18	0

Veterans 35-39yrs Overs

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	798	Nick Price	75	25	25	25
2	64	Cam Smith	64	22	20	22
3	75	Tony Parker	58	20	18	20
4	3	Bryan Heaphy	54	16	22	16
5	35	Daniel Scrimgeour	52	18	16	18

 

Veterans 40-44yrs Unders

 

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	103	Darren Capill	75	25	25	25
2	65	Steve Lange	66	22	22	22
3	82	Greg Ngeru	60	20	20	20
4	101	Hamish McIntyre	52	16	18	18
5	222	Chris Clark	45	18	12	15

Veterans 40-44yrs Overs

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	33	Darren Capill	75	25	25	25
2	65	Steve Lange	64	22	22	20
3	82	Greg Ngeru	60	20	18	22
4	202	Shaun Raven	50	18	16	16
5	403	Pete Hewer	43	14	15	14

 

Veterans 45-49yrs Unders

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3
1	007	Mitch Rowe	72	22	25	25
2	01	John Sharland	69	25	22	22
3	108	Steve Holmes	58	20	18	20
4	103	Andy Wright	52	16	20	16
5	503	Gary Powell	49	18	16	15

Veterans 45-49yrs Overs

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	007	Mitch Rowe	75	25	25	25	—	—
2	01	John Sharland	62	22	20	20	—	—
3	98	Neil Watling	54	16	16	22	—	—
4	33	Tim Gleeson	52	15	22	15	—	—
5	223	Ray Drake	52	18	18	16	—	—

 

Veterans 50yrs + All In

Pos	No.	Name	Total points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	285	Moston Wadsworth	72	25	22	25	—	—
2	9	Tony Cooksley	65	18	25	22	—	—
3	316	Mark Patterson	54	22	16	16	—	—
4	0	Peter Guthrie	54	16	20	18	—	—
5	11	Gaudenz Gisler	46	15	11	20	—	—