The writing is on the wall and it’s splashed there in big, orange and yellow lettering.

The high-profile CMR Red Bull KTM Race Team won two of the three main senior classes and the Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki Team’s MX1 rider dominated his class at the big annual Valley Motocross Championships at Patetonga, near Morrinsville, at the weekend and loudly sounded a few warning bells for their rivals ahead of the upcoming nationals.

The New Zealand Motocross Championships are set to kick off near Timaru next month and, if the weekend’s racing in the Thames Valley is any indicator, then the CMR Red Bull KTM Race Team and the Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki Team are certainly a couple of crews that deserve to be respected.

Hat-tricks were the order of the day at the Valley Champs.

In each of the three senior men’s classes, and in the women’s category too, the winners all finished the day unbeaten, stringing together three unanswered wins as they collectively dominated the racing.

Taupo’s Brad Groombridge (Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki RM-Z450) won all three MX1 races, finishing ahead of Hamilton KTM rider Jesse Wiki and Atiamuri Kawasaki rider Dion Picard, while Hamish Dobbyn, from Matakohe near Dargaville, took his CMR Red Bull KTM 250SX to annihilate the MX2 (250cc) class, snatching the holeshot in all three of his races and never looking back.

Dobbyn (pictured here) finished ahead of The Honda Shop Race Team’s John Phillips, of Rotorua, and Hamilton’s former world 500cc No.2 Darryll King (Yamaha).

Dobbyn’s CMR Red Bull KTM team-mate Josiah Natzke, from Hamilton, was runaway winner of the senior 125cc class, each time finishing ahead of fellow KTM rider Aaron Wiltshier, from Tauranga, while Opunake’s Taylar Rampton took her Husqvarna CR125 to clean-sweep the women’s grade.

“The day awesome,” said the 21-year-old Dobbyn afterwards.

“I qualified fastest and the day stayed perfect after that as I took three holeshots and was never headed. It was so good to be getting back into action and finishing on top after my recent training accident, where I had knocked myself out.

“I have been doing a lot of work lately with my personal trainer, Nelson’s Jade Thompson, and I have been hooking up to a heart monitor, then plugging that in to the computer for Jade to read. I can’t cheat on my training and it’s paying off.

“My fitness is getting better each time I ride. I’d love to race at the King of the Mountain Motocross (in Taranaki) this coming weekend and then do the big annual New Zealand Motocross GP at Woodville the week after that. Then it’s the nationals …

“I’m feeling very confident at the moment,” said Dobbyn.

Hat-trick heroes at the weekend were also to be found in the junior racing the previous day, where Ngatea’s Benjamin Broad (15-16 years’ 125/250 class, Yamaha), Matamata’s Brodie Connolly (8-11 years’ 85cc class, KTM) and Ohinewai’s Angus Evans (mini 65cc class, KTM) each produced three perfect scores.

Connolly doubled up to also win the 12-16 years’ 85cc class with a 1-3-1 scoreline, while Onewhero’s Jayden Turnwald (Yamaha) finished 1-2-1 to claim the 12-14 years’ 125/250 class ahead of Taupo’s Wyatt Chase (also Yamaha).

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

Results from the Valley Motocross Championships:

Courtesy Nicole Bol of MX Timing Ltd

Senior results HERE

Junior results HERE