An amateur racer, making his debut appearance in New Zealand, nearly achieved the unthinkable at the weekend.

A first-time competitor at the New Zealand Motocross Championships, Queensland concrete contractor Brock Winston came within a stone’s throw of clinching the coveted national MX2 (250cc) title at the final round in Taupo on Sunday.

The CMR Red Bull KTM team rider may have been feeling his way in unfamiliar surroundings throughout the four-round series, but you’d never have guessed that to see him push eventual champion Scott Columb (JCR Yamaha Racing YZ250F), of Queenstown, all the way to the finish.

When battled his way to fourth in the first of his three MX2 races on Sunday, while Columb struck trouble and was forced to settle for ninth at the chequered flag, the difference between the two rivals had suddenly been shaved back to just eight points.

With 50 points still available in the remaining two MX2 races of the series – and three points the difference between a race win and a runner-up result each time – it was suddenly anyone’s championship.

Unfortunately for Winston, his Kiwi foe did enough to preserve his points advantage in the next two races and he secured the title, although Winston was still beaming at the end of his inaugural Kiwi campaign.

“I’m pretty happy,” said the 25-year-old Winston afterwards. “I did better than I expected to. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t put it all together in the end. Scotty (Columb) is a great rider, but hopefully I can come back and win it next year.

“I loved the tracks over here and would love to come back. It was a great competition and the same riders weren’t winning all the time. It was awesome.”

In the series’ 12 MX2 races, Columb (4 wins), Winston (1 win), Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter (Moto City Suzuki, 2 wins), Australia’s Ryan Marmont (Action Suzuki, 2 wins), Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (Yamaha, 1 win), Tauranga’s Peter Broxholme (Castrol Botany Honda, 1 win) and Rotorua’s John Phillips (Honda Hamilton, 1 win) were the riders who shared the race victories.

“I have never in my racing career been in a position to win a championship, but I showed here I have the speed to win one,” said Winston.

“I can’t thank enough the KTM guys in New Zealand, especially Cannon Smith and Patrick Stafford.

“I’m a concreter and work six days a week. I’ve had to take a lot of time off work to do this campaign and I’m broke now,” he shrugged. “But it was worth it.”

Fellow Australian KTM riders Todd Waters and Kirk Gibbs have also impressed during their respective debut appearances across the Tasman this season.

Waters (Motorex KTM 450SXF) and Gibbs (Motorex KTM 450SXF) finished third and sixth respectively in the MX1 category, Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Moto City Suzuki RM-Z450) and Scotsman Billy MacKenzie (JCR Yamaha Racing YZ450F) taking the No.1 and No.2 spots overall.

The Kiwi campaign also gave these two Motorex KTM team-mates a head-start on their own domestic series back home and these riders will look forward to starting with a clean slate when that competition kicks off in New South Wales on April 14.

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