WINSTON PICKS IT UP | Bikesportnz

Australian Brock Winston is in the habit of turning heads.

If it is not the intricately tattooed body of this athlete that first catches your eye, perhaps it will be his superb skills on a motorcycle.

Though making his debut in New Zealand this summer, the CMR Red Bull KTM rider has shown that he is a very quick learner, speedily coming to terms with tracks and opponents that he has little or no prior knowledge of.

Winston took his CMR Red Bull KTM 250SX to a race win at the opening round of four in the New Zealand Motocross Championships a fortnight ago – and he ended the day third overall – and then he came within a couple of metres from doing it again at round two near Morrinsville on Sunday, settling for runner-up in the day’s third and final MX2 class race, just four seconds behind Waitakere’s former national junior and senior 125cc champion Ethan Martens (Yamaha YZ250).

Martens was top dog in the MX2 class on Sunday, finishing 3-2-1 in his three outings, while the series leader in this class – Scotty Columb (JCR Yamaha Racing YZ250F), of Queenstown – came home runner-up on Sunday with 4-1-4 results.

Winston, from Queensland, finished 7-3-2 at Patetonga, good enough for third overall on Sunday and also sufficient to elevate him from third to second position in the overall championship standings.

Columb will perhaps need to be wary over the remaining two rounds, aware that the Aussie invader is pushing hard.

“My season in Australia doesn’t start for a few months yet, but this is good for me to build-up for racing back home,” said Winston.

“I’m loving New Zealand. The people are so friendly and helpful. I really want to thank KTM in New Zealand and Cannon Smith and Martin Collins from the CMR Red Bull team. They have been awesome.”

The team’s two MX1 (450cc) riders, fellow Australians Todd Waters and Kirk Gibbs, also enjoyed a positive day’s racing at Patetonga on Sunday.

Fifth overall in the class at the start of the day, Waters finished 2-2-3 on Sunday to leap past Gibbs and into third position overall. That was at the expense of Gibbs, who slipped back from second-equal to now be fourth in the championship chase.

Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Moto City Suzuki RM-Z450) again won the day, repeating his dominance from the series opener, this time scoring 1-1-2 finishes, while Scottish import Billy MacKenzie (JCR Yamaha Racing YZ450F) had to settle for third overall on the day, behind Waters, although he remains second in the title chase, 20 points behind Cooper.

Another rider to impress on Sunday was Tauranga’s Aaron Wiltshier (KTM 125).

He finished 3-6-3 on the day and elevated himself three positions, from fifth equal to third in the overall 125cc championship standings, albeit still a sizeable points distance behind the leaders, Rotorua’s Cameron Vaughan (JCR Yamaha Racing YZ125) and Te Puke’s Logan Blackburn (Bayride BikesportNZ.com Yamaha YZ125).

Vaughan won the day in the 125cc class with 1-1-2 results, while Blackburn was runner-up on Sunday with 2-2-1 results.

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