The waiting is over and the fight for national glory starts now.

It has been four years since Taranaki last hosted a round of the New Zealand Motocross Championships, but this Sunday the popular Barrett Road Motorcycle Park facility, on the outskirts of New Plymouth, will again echo with the sound of top-level dirt bike racing.

Even with Taranaki being off the calendar in recent times, many of the international-class riders who will arrive in the region for Sunday’s first of four rounds of the JT Racing-sponsored series will already be familiar with the steep and treacherous terrain.

The annual King of the Mountain motocross was held at the track just a few weeks ago and riders then took the opportunity to preview the track and begin the process of bike set-up and testing.

Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter and Queenstown’s Scott Columb dominated the MX1 class on that hot and dusty occasion last month, while Rotorua’s Mike Phillips and Atiamuri’s Hadleigh Knight topped the MX2 (250cc) class, with Pukekohe’s Kurtis Lilly and Ngatea’s Ben Broad proving strongest in the 125cc class.

These same riders could be expected to feature again this Sunday, although there will be a larger number of talented riders travelling to Taranaki this time around.

Hawera’s Daryl Hurley, a multi-time former national motocross champion, knows his way around the track better than most and, although an infrequent racer these days, he is entered for Sunday’s event and should never be written off.

“This is the only round I will race. It’s my home track and so I thought ‘why not?’ I ride just for fun these days and if I can finish inside the top five (in the MX1 class), then I’d be thrilled,” said Hurley (pictured in the main photo above).

“It’s actually my birthday on Sunday too – I turn 39 – so this is a birthday present to myself to go and ride Barrett Road.

“It’s a technical track, gets quite rough and has got to be respected,” he said.

With riders from the United States, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom also here to race, adding extra depth to the talent on show.

Kiwi riders with international experience such as Mount Maunganui’s defending national MX1 champion Cody Cooper, Taupo’s Brad Groombridge, Hamilton’s Josiah Natzke, Otago’s Courtney Duncan, Waitakere’s Ethan Martens, Rotorua pair John Phillips and Scott Canham, as well as Taupo’s Chase brothers, Cohen and Wyatt, will no doubt also be contenders.

After racing in Taranaki on Sunday, the series heads to Pleasant Point, near Timaru for round two in just over two weeks’ time, on February 22.

Round three is set for Rotorua on March 8, with the fourth and final round at Pukekohe on March 15.

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

Find BikesportNZ.com on FACEBOOK here

Share