It wasn’t supposed to happen like this but Bay of Plenty’s Michael Phillips has always been capable of surprising.

The 28-year-old semi-retired former Kiwi international motocross star, now working as a builder in his home town of Rotorua, was recently called in just to “keep the seat warm” for injured factory Honda team rider Aaron Wiltshier.

But now, after his stunning performance at the big annual Honda Summercross near Whakatane on Sunday, The Honda Shop Racing Team could be reluctant to let him go when Tauranga’s Wiltshire returns and Phillips’ temporary term ends.

In just his third outing since joining The Honda Shop Racing Team squad in October, Phillips (pictured above on bike No.255) finished third in the first MX2 (250cc) class race on Sunday and backed that up with a runner-up finish in race two.

This put him second equal in the standings after two of five races, level pegging with current national MX2 champion Kayne Lamont, of Mangakino, and these two riders were at this stage just a handful of points behind back-to-back race winner Josiah Natzke, of Hamilton.

But the best was yet to come.

Phillips won the next two races and this thrust him into the competition lead and, with just one race to run, Phillips enjoyed a 15-point buffer over Natzke, with Rotorua’s Scotty Canham third overall, another 15 points further back.

Then disaster struck for Phillips when he crashed soon after the start and was last away.

Phillips mounted a tenacious charge through the field, eventually finishing eighth, enough for him to win the day by seven points from Natzke.

“I was counting down the laps and just knew I had to move up, simple as that really,” Phillips explained. “I had a couple of scary moments.

“I’m just filling in for an injured rider at the moment, but you never forget how to ride a bike do you?

“I’m not sure what the future holds for me once Aaron (Wiltshire) comes back to take over the bike. But I’m certainly enjoying racing again.”

Despite his long absence from the sport, it should possibly have come as little surprise that Phillips would be among the leading MX2 class riders on Sunday — he is, afterall, a two-time former national 250cc champion, having won the title in 2007 and again in 2009.

Meanwhile, Kiwi international Rhys Carter (Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki RM-Z450), from Mount Maunganui, won the MX1 class ahead of Phillips’ younger brother and Honda team-mate John Phillips, while The Honda Shop Racing Team’s national MX1 champion Cody Cooper, still on the comeback from injury, showed he is close to being fully fit again by winning the day’s final two MX1 races and claiming the third spot on the podium overall.

In other senior class results from the Honda Summercross, Auckland’s Nikki Scott won the women’s class ahead of Tauranga’s Jessie Waterhouse; New Plymouth’s Mitch Rowe won the veterans’ over-45 years’ class ahead of Taupo’s Bevan Weal; Taupo’s Daniel Scrimgeour won the veterans’ 35-44 years’ class ahead of Inglewood’s Larry Blair and Taupo’s Wyatt Chase won the Youth MX class ahead of Ngatea’s Ben Broad.

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

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