The future stars of New Zealand motocross go under the spotlight in the South Island this coming weekend.

The next Cody Cooper, Brad Groombridge or Kayne Lamont are expected to reveal themselves when the Westland Motorcycle Club hosts the three-day Backflips Clothing and KTM-sponsored New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships this weekend, starting Friday.

The venue for this annual championship is at Waipuna Station, 668 Waipuna Road, Ikamatua, between Reefton and Greymouth and top talent from throughout Australasia is expected to rapidly fill up the region’s motels and camping grounds.

A couple of the riders expected to feature this weekend include young men who have recently dipped their toes into the senior cauldron – teenagers such as Taupo’s Cohen Chase, Rangiora’s Dylan Walsh and Ngatea’s Benjamin Broad – and they will be favoured to dominate one or other of the eldest of the junior categories, the 15-16 years’ 125cc class and the 14-16 years’ 250cc class.

Chase is not returning to defend the national 15-16 years’ 125cc title he won when the junior nationals were staged in Taranaki last year, but instead he’ll now tackle the 14-16 years’ 250cc class.

He’ll face another former champion in the shape of Oamaru’s Joel Meikle, not defending his 2013 13-16 years’ 85cc title but stepping up to the bigger bike category.

Levin’s Billy Frank finished fifth overall in the 14-16 250cc class last season and is the highest ranked rider to make a return this year – the riders who finished ahead of Frank have since moved into the senior ranks – so the fireworks could be flying between Chase, Frank and Meikle this time around.

Walsh (pictured above) won the 125cc/250cc Champion of Champions race at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in January and he featured prominently in the just-completed senior national championships where he raced in the Under-19/125cc category.

Injury prevented him from achieving a podium finish in the senior competition, but, when healthy, he was frequently among the top three. He is 100 percent fit again now and will be hard to beat in the 15-16 years’ 125cc class.

It is hard to pick favourites, but riders such as Dunedin’s Sam Cuthbertson, Nelson’s Reece Walker, Hawera’s Nick Hornby, Otorohanga’s Aaron King, Tauranga’s Trent Haywood, Paeroa’s Blair Morley, Hawera’s Kieran Baker, Feilding’s Tony Cvitanovich,  Whangarei’s Cameron Hill and Masterton’s Sam Guise are all riders whose names are likely to feature near the top of the scoreboard when the dust settles or the mud washes away on Sunday afternoon.

In the 85cc class action, it will be worth looking out for Cambridge rider Trent Collins after he won the Champion of Champions race at the Woodville GP in January, while Invercargill’s Piggy Suzuki, Blenheim’s Jack Dalton and Taihape’s Hayden Smith will also bear watching, along with Havelock North’s Oliver Ayre, Dunedin’s Grason Veitch, Sanson’s Max Hefferen and Oparau’s James Scott.

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

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