AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Te Kauwhata’s Jason Moorfield has just discovered a new passion – from the recent past – and he’s enjoyed stepping back in time to experience it.

Moorfield is now a committed vintage motocross enthusiast.

A perennial front-runner on the national cross-country motorcycle race scene, the 40-year-old businessman is now finding he gets just as much enjoyment out of an old Kawasaki motocross bike that he also gets from the current models.

Moorfield had his first taste of vintage motocross racing when he showed up at the first round of five in this season’s Mister Vintage Motocross series, at a rain-drenched farmland course just outside Feilding, back in October.

He took his 1983-model Kawasaki KX250 to dominate the day at Feilding and establish himself as one of the favourites to win his “Link 250” class.

However, family commitments meant he was forced to skip round two at Whakatane a few weeks later and this caused him to drop down the series rankings to seventh overall.

But he showed up at round three of the series at Taupo’s popular Digger McEwen Motorcycle Park on Sunday and again he was on fire at the front of the pack.

With VMX (vintage motocross) rules allowing riders to turf out their worst three scores from the series, Moorfield will happily discard his zero-score results from the Whakatane event and that puts him right back in the hunt for the crown.

“I love riding this bike,” said Moorfield. “The VMX scene is pretty social and relaxed, so there’s no pressure to win.

“I’ve still got my 2010-model Kawasaki KX450F and I still ride that occasionally too, but the vintage scene is a pretty special place and these bikes are built to last, so there’s no telling how long I will keep at it. My body will probably break down before the old Kawasaki does.”

Other riders to shine on the day at Taupo included Taupo’s Bill Doe, Taranaki riders Steve Gallichan (1974 Maico 440), Simon Stannard, Craig Bailey and Paul Doeke (1973 CZ250), Manawatu pair Tom Vandenberg (1980 Honda CR125) and Stephen Shirriffs (1983 Yamaha YZ250), Wanganui’s Lloyd Mckenzie (1972 Cooper 360), Auckland’s Luke Ramsey (1979 Kawasaki KX250 and 1983 Kawasaki KX125), Levin’s Wayne Moxham (Suzuki DR400), Keith Paterson (Honda CR500), Otaki’s Murray Anderson (Honda CR480), Taupo brothers John and James Flight, and former UK factory team rider Rob Sutherland (1982 YZ490J).