NATZKE A NATURAL | Bikesportnz

Watch this space because Waikato’s Josiah Natzke is probably going to fill it.

The junior motocross racer from Hamilton was in sensational form as he became one of only two individuals to finish the chilly day unbeaten at the fourth annual Battle of the Clubs motocross in Taupo on Saturday – the other unbeaten rider was senior national MX1 champion Cody Cooper, representing the Tauranga Motorcycle Club.

It probably came as no surprise that Cooper won both his MX1 outings, but Natzke caught a few people by surprise when he won both his junior 250cc races at the Digger McEwen Motorcycle Park complex, the event a fundraiser to help send a three-rider New Zealand team to compete at the Motocross of Nations in Germany in September.

Representing the Patetonga Motorcycle Club, Natzke took his Yamaha YZ250F to two convincing wins on Saturday, dominating the combined junior 125cc/250cc race and repeating the dose to win the combined junior 250cc/85cc race as well. This earned Natzke the best possible result (1-1) for his six-rider club team as he fended off attacks from national junior 14-16 years 250cc champion Hadleigh Knight (Taupo Motorcycle Club, KTM) and national junior 15-16 years’ 125cc class champion Cohen Chase (Tokoroa Motorcycle Club, KTM) in the process.

Natzke became national junior 12-14 years’ 125cc class champion in April but he showed at the weekend he’s ready to step it up a notch.

“My win in the qualifying race wasn’t really that big … Hadleigh (Knight) was pretty close,” admitted the 14-year-old Natzke, a year 10 pupil at Hamilton Boys’ High School.

“But then I put my head down and sprinted away at the start of the first points race to give myself a gap. When Hadleigh crashed it gave me a big margin.

“In the second points race I was second behind Cohen (Chase) at the start but he went wide coming out of turn one, I took the inside line and that was that.

“I’m feeling pretty good at the moment. I think all those hours spent in the gym are starting to pay off.”

Natzke’s performance at the weekend was almost matched by Patetonga Motorcycle Club-mate Darryll King, the fellow Yamaha ace from Hamilton twice the best-performed of the veteran class riders in the mix.

King (Yamaha YZ450F) managed fifth overall in the combined veterans’/MX2 race and fourth overall in the combined veterans’/MX1 race.

However, these impressive results from Natzke and King weren’t quite enough to lift their team to the top spot, that honour going instead to the host Taupo Motorcycle Club, with the Tokoroa Motorcycle Club taking second spot overall.

The Patetonga Motorcycle Club eventually had to settle for third overall of the 21 club teams entered.

The 44-year-old King is a former New Zealand representative rider at the Motocross of Nations and it is now up to the younger breed to step forward and be counted at this annual “Olympic Games of motocross”.

There’s probably no doubt now that Natzke will figure in the minds of the selectors in the next few years.

The three-rider Kiwi squad to head to Germany in September will be announced before the end of August.

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