BATTLE OF THE CLUBS | Bikesportnz

New Zealand has a new champion motorcycle club.

The Tokoroa-based South Waikato Motorcycle Club (SWMC) became the fourth different club in five years to win the big annual Battle of the Clubs motocross – a fundraiser event to help send a Kiwi squad to the “Olympic Games of motocross, the annual Motocross of Nations, in Latvia in September – when they dominated racing at Taupo on Saturday.

The format used for Saturday’s fundraiser motocross in Taupo was very similar to what the Team New Zealand trio can expect when they line up in Latvia against national teams from all around the world.

Riders aligned on club loyalties on Saturday, putting aside their bike brand or regular race team loyalties to unite under regional flags, with the aim of finding out which one club was the best in New Zealand motocross.

The club-based teams each comprised six riders – three junior and three senior riders – who competed on 85cc, 125cc, 250cc and 450cc machines.

Each contestant rode twice, with the two worst results to be discarded so only 10 of the 12 results were counted in the final tally.

The six-rider SWMC team of Dion Picard (MX1 class), Cohen Chase (MX2), Nigel Gainfort (veteran), Ben Broad (junior 250), Wyatt Chase (junior 125) and Ollie Ayre (junior 85cc) finished the day 29 points better than the team from the Taranaki Motorcycle Club and 35 points better than the eventual third-ranked Nelson Motorcycle Club.

The runner-up Taranaki Motorcycle Club team comprised Daryl Hurley (MX1), Aaron Janes (MX2), Mitch Rowe (veteran), Nick Hornby (junior 250), Ryan Gwynn (junior 125) and Kade Wilson (junior 85), while the Nelson Motorcycle Club riders were two-time former world No.2, former Australian and former New Zealand champion Josh Coppins (MX1), Hayden Wilkinson (MX2), Grant Walker (veteran), Isaac Millson (junior 250), Reece Walker (junior 125), Clayton Roseke (junior 85).

Also outstanding were the individual efforts of junior riders such as Manawatu-Orion Motorcycle Club’s Tony Cvitanovich (who was second in the combined junior 85cc and 125cc race), Pukekohe Motorcycle Club’s Jayden Turnwald (who was first in the combined junior 250cc and 85cc race) and Taupo Motorcycle Club’s Warren Bartlett (who was second in the combined junior 250cc and 85cc race).

Stand-out individuals in the seniors ranks included North King Country Motorcycle Club’s Hayden Kanters (who won the MX2 class qualifying race), Taupo Motorcycle Club’s Hadleigh Knight (won the combined MX2-vets race), Taupo Motorcycle Club’s Brad Groombridge (who won both the combined MX1-vets race are the combined MX1-MX2 race as well) and the Rotorua Motorcycle Club’s John Phillips (who was runner-up in both the combined MX1-vets and the combined MX1-MX2 race).

Nearly $10,000 was raised at the fundraiser event last season, that cash going towards New Zealand’s three-rider entry to the MXoN in Germany last year, and a similar amount was raised to send the Kiwi team to Latvia this time around.

The three riders (plus a reserve) to represent New Zealand in Latvia in September are expected to be named in the coming weeks.

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Full story and more photos in your next issue of KIWI RIDER magazine.

Check back here on www.BikesportNZ.com during this week as we bring you more stories and photos from the weekend.