LAMONT ON UPWARD PATH

Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont continues to plot a path to the top and his performances at the Auckland Motocross Championships on Sunday indicate that he’s certainly on the right track.

The KTM ace dominated this season’s Australian Motocross Championships, easily winning the hard-fought Motocross Development Under-19 class, a feat that no doubt factored in him being selected to make his debut as one of the trio to represent New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations in Belgium in September.

The Bay of Plenty teenager made it another first at the Auckland Motocross Championships at the weekend – racing in the MX1 (open class) on a CMR Red Bull KTM 350SXF – and his MX1 debut ride was a victorious one, his 1-1-2 results in his three races easily enough for him to eclipse long-time open class frontrunner Nick Saunders (Darryl August Motorcycles Kawasaki KX450F), of Taupo.

Auckland’s James Ainsworth (Honda) and Ohaupo’s Campbell Bailey (Yamaha) and Masterton’s Bjarne Frederikson (Honda) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the MX1 class.

The 19-year-old Lamont then rolled a KTM 250SX two-stroke to the line to tackle the MX2 class and here he finished 3-2-1 in his three outings to finish the day overall runner-up, ending the Auckland championships just one point behind reigning national MX2 champion Darryll King (Fox DC Fuzion Yamaha YZ250), of Hamilton.

Third, fourth and fifth in this class were Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (Yamaha), Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) and Auckland’s Shaun Fogarty (Kawasaki).

“My day in the MX2 class got better as it went on,” declared BikesportNZ.com’s Lamont.

“I changed my tyres for the last race and that seemed to work wonders. The weather has been so unpredictable today; it was extremely hard to work out what tyres would work best. In that last race I finally got it right and I got a good start too.

“It was good to come here and race this track today because one of the rounds for the New Zealand Motocross Championships will be held here in March. It was good to learn a few things about this track today.

“I will be racing a KTM SXF250 four-stroke for the nationals and my time on the 350 today was just to give me more bike time and to help improve my strength and fitness.

“Getting good starts are so important here, especially when it’s wet and there’s only one good race line. There are still a few improvements I need to make but I think I’m on the right track.”

Lamont’s elder brother Jamie and Atiamuri’s Hadleigh Knight also stood out at the Auckland Motocross Championships.

Jamie Lamont (KTM SXF250) dominated the senior support class, while Knight won the junior 125cc class on Saturday and the senior 125cc class the following day.

The senior 125cc class was a real hotbed of talent with outstanding performances also coming from Aiden Kiff (Husqvarna), Sean O’Connor (Husqvarna) and Kurtis Lilly (KTM).

Click here for the AUCKLAND MX CHAMPS RESULTS