A cool head and steady nerves should be enough for South Islander Hamish Harwood to “get the job done” in the 2016 New Zealand Motocross Championships.

Despite coming under fire at the third round of four in the series near Rotorua on Sunday, the Waitakere-based man from Takaka remains solidly on top of the points standings in the MX2 (250cc) class.

CML KTM Team rider Harwood finished off the podium on Sunday for the first time this season, but he is still a comfortable 13 points clear of his nearest rival, Australian Jed Beaton (Triple B Valley Fresh Yamaha YZ250F), and he remains well on target to win the MX2 title with just one round (three races) to come.

Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont (Altherm JCR Yamaha YZ250F), only eighth equal overall at the start of the day, was Sunday’s big winner and moved up to fourth in the rankings, but, with a disastrous run at the previous round, he is not a title contender this season.

“It was a tough day today,” said Harwood, who lodged a 3-3-4 score-card in the MX2 class on Sunday.

“I wasn’t feeling too flash today, so I was surprised that I qualified fastest.

“The track was very slick and I had a couple of close calls, although I did not crash once today.”

Harwood’s charge through the field in his final race of the day was awe-inspiring.

“I got tangled with another rider at the first corner, my bike hooked up with him. I was about 35th by the time I got free. I ate a lot of dirt roost getting back amongst the leaders and I passed (Rangiora’s) Micah McGoldrick (Timaru Honda CRF250) on the last lap to claim fourth.

“I was not worried about anyone else today. I was just concentrating on trying to finish ahead of Beaton. I need to bounce back strongly at the final round.”

The only dual-class rider in the championship, the superbly-fit Harwood also finished seventh overall in the MX1 class on Sunday and is sixth overall in that class after three rounds.

The defending champion in the MX1 class, Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Honda Racing Team CRF450), came on strong at Rotorua to snatch the points lead and he now enjoys a three-point advantage over Australian Todd Waters (MC2 Suzuki Racing Team RM-Z4500) as they head to the final round.

In the 125cc class, Ngatea’s Ben Broad remains the championship leader, but his advantage over Taupo Yamaha rider Wyatt Chase has been trimmed from 28 points to 23 after Chase won the day at Rotorua, posting a 1-2-1 score-card.

That margin should still be enough for KTM hero Broad to wrap up the title next weekend.

The fourth and final round of the series is set for the Digger McEwen Motocross Park facility, on the outskirts of Taupo, on Sunday (March 20).

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Leading championship standings after the third of four rounds of the New Zealand Motocross Championships near Rotorua on Sunday:

MX1 class: 1. Cody Cooper (Mount Maunganui, Honda) 198 pts; 2. Todd Waters (Australia, Suzuki) 195; 3.Dean Ferris (Australia, Yamaha) 193; 4. Scott Columb (Queenstown, Kawasaki) 145; 5. Brad Groombridge (Taupo, Suzuki) 142.

MX2 class: 1. Hamish Harwood (Takaka, KTM) 197 pts ; 2. Jed Beaton (Australia, Yamaha) 184; 3. Ethan Martens (Waitakere, Yamaha) 163; 4. Kayne Lamont (Mangakino, Yamaha) 149; 5. Micah McGoldrick (Rangiora, Honda) 143.

125cc class: 1. Ben Broad (Ngatea, KTM) 214 pts; 2. Wyatt Chase (Taupo, Yamaha) 191; 3. Kurtis Lilly (Karaka, Husqvarna) 148; 4. Blake Gillard (Beachlands, KTM) 140; 5= Tony Cvitanovich (Feilding, KTM) and Sean O’Connor (Papakura, Yamaha) 126.

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

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