STARS ON THE RISE | Bikesportnz

Watch this space, Waipukurau’s Ben Fryer is one of those riders who is going to try to fill it.

The 15-year-old Yamaha ace was the dominant force in the junior grade at the fourth and final round of the New Zealand Cross-country Championships in Central Hawke’s Bay on Saturday, hinting that there’s plenty more where that came from and possibly a big future ahead.

Fryer took his Yamaha YZ125 into the front soon after the start of Saturday’s 90-minute junior race on the steep farmland race track at Ashley Clinton – about halfway between Norsewood and Waipukurau – and never looked back from there.

He had series leader Charlie Richardson (KTM), of Ekatahuna, on his heels, but a cool head and consistently quick pace meant Fryer was never really threatened.

“I actually fell over as I ran to the bike at the start,” Fryer laughed. “But I managed to pick myself up and still get about fifth as we all headed around the first corner.”

Fryer pushed passed holeshot winner Richardson and was in the lead within a kilometre, eventually stretching out his winning advantage to just over one minute by the end of the race.

“I fell off a few times, especially when I got amongst the lappers on the slippery course, but, once I was about 30 seconds in front, I felt the pressure was off and backed off the pace a bit at the end to make sure I didn’t make a mistake.

“This is only my second year racing and I’m kind of surprised I have done so well this year. I broke my knee earlier in the season and was told I wouldn’t even be able to walk for six months.

“But, with a CTI knee brace, I was soon back in action.”

Fryer had spent time in recent weeks training with Smith at his Mokau property and that experience obviously gave him an edge on Saturday, although Richardson won the junior series overall, ahead of Pukekohe’s Isaac Clark (Honda), with Fryer settling for a national ranking of No.3 for 2013.

“It was good to help train Ben,” said the 27-year-old Smith (Yamaha YZ250), who later in the day wrapped up his senior title defence with a start-to-finish win the series’ final three-hour senior race.

“I worked on a lot of technical things with Ben, riding over logs and amongst tight stuff. You need to master the basics before you can go fast and I think he’s certainly showing he can go fast now too.”

Fryer still has another season remaining in the junior ranks before he might step up to challenge his mentor and the three-time national champion, Smith, in the senior category.

Of course, Fryer will still have a tough job ahead trying to match the likes of similarly-talented young riders such as Richardson, Clark, Cambridge’s Taylor Rae, Invercargill’s Todd Keown and Marton trio Josh Pilet, Ethan Breuer and James Galpin, to name a few.

The national cross-country scene is in a healthy state and any of these young men could soon be overseas, perhaps banging handlebars on the United States cross-country scene with Kiwi internationals Paul Whibley and Rory Mead.

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