New Zealand riders are going to have a massive fight on their hands this coming weekend if they are to have any hope of capturing the greatest motocross trophy on offer in this part of the world.
The annual Honda New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville always draws the cream of the crop from all corners of the country and attracts plenty of interest from overseas competitors too, and this year is no exception, with multi-time Australian champion Kyle Webster signing up to race the event for the first time.
The 29-year-old Webster (pictured above) is current and two-time consecutive Australian national champion in the premier MX1 class and he was also twice a member of the winning Motocross of Nations (MXoN) team for Australia, in England in 2024 and then again in the United States last year.
It’s significant that Australia has won the MXoN only twice since the prestigious event’s inaugural running in 1947 and Webster was a member of their three-rider team on both occasions. To put this in perspective, New Zealand has never won MXoN, although a Kiwi trio did finish on the podium (in third place each time) on three separate occasions – in England in 1998, in Belgium in 2001 and in England in 2006.
With Webster entered for this coming weekend’s 63rd edition of the Woodville event, it provides added gloss and also increases the pressure on the locals to perhaps turn what slim ‘home town’ advantage they think may have into something of added significance.
However, the rolling grassland circuit at Woodville – the historic host venue every year since the inaugural running of the event back in 1961 – is not actually available as a regular race or practice track at any other time of the year, so any perceived hometown advantage is negligible.
For the statistics wizards out there, the event skipped two years (in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then it was rained out in 2023), otherwise this year’s event would actually be the 65th anniversary.
Regardless, the racing on Saturday and Sunday (January 24-25) is expected to be another scorching two days of intense race action.
The Woodville GP event has become the jewel in the crown for New Zealand motocross and many hundreds of riders will battle over the weekend, including minis, juniors, seniors, women and veterans.
The two-day dirt-biking extravaganza continues to rank as the country’s No.1 dirt bike event and Blue Wing Honda group sales manager and motorsport racing manager Lance Turnbull said he was “really pleased to have someone of Kyle Webster’s calibre” to race here.
“This will be fantastic for the New Zealand public to witness such world-class talent. It will certainly make the locals sit up and take notice,” Turnbull said.
“Credentials don’t get much higher than those of Webster and it will be a great opportunity for the other riders at Woodville to test themselves and really see where they’re at. In addition, this will be a workout for Webster as he builds up to defending his Australian crown, that domestic series due to kick off in March.”
There is no shortage of talented Kiwis from challenging too. Last season’s overall Woodville winner, Mangakino’s Maximus Purvis, and fellow Kiwi international Josiah Natzke, from Huntly, will no doubt fancy their chances of clinching the main prize ahead of Webster.
Other top riders who may feature at the front in the premier class include another Australian visitor Ryley Fitzpatrick, Japan’s Kai Oshiro, Invercargill’s Jack Symon and Balclutha’s Jack Treloar, among others.
Meanwhile, the Woodville GP is set to be another massive ‘superstar showdown’ across the board, with Sunday’s race programme also incorporating round one of three in the New Zealand Women’s Motocross Championships.
The competition will be fierce, with the women expected to showcase their very best, as selection for the New Zealand women’s motocross team for the upcoming FIM Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup, to be held in Wongthaggi, Australia, on March 21-22, is on the line.
The event really does have an international Grand Prix feel about it. The Woodville motocross is a very special occasion for everyone and it always starts the year off with a bang.
Sadly, Tim Gibbes, the former world championship Grand Prix motocross rider who founded the Woodville event in 1961, passed away in October 2023, although his legacy does live on.
The senior feature race prize has been renamed the Tim Gibbes Memorial Trophy and is still the most coveted piece of silverware on offer to the Kiwi motocross racing community.
© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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