He may now be considered a privateer rider these days, but underestimate Kayne Lamont at your peril.

It took some effort to find the 20-year-old from Mangakino at Labour Weekend’s big annual Motocross Extravaganza in Taupo – instead of camping out in ‘factory alley’ with all the high-profile teams, he was parked ‘way out the back’, away from the main throng of the crowd.

But the low-key set-up in the pits – including using a bike he’d borrowed from his elder brother – was certainly at odds with the positive spirit and attitude of this talented rider and of his large band of supporters.

And when the gate dropped for the first MX2 (250cc) race of the weekend, there was no doubt that the fire still burned as hot as ever within Lamont.

The multi-time former national junior motocross champion holeshot the race ahead of current New Zealand MX2 champion Scotty Columb and then just ‘checked out’, rocketing away to an impressive start-to-finish victory.

Lamont finished third and fifth in his next two races – the third outing an all-in feature race which included the best of the MX1 (open class) riders – enough to earn him overall runner-up spot for the day, ending just six points behind Queenstown’s Columb.

“I got decent starts for the first two races and felt pretty good on the bike,” said Lamont afterwards.

“In the final race, I got caught up with (Taupo’s) Brad Groombridge in the first corner and was second-to-last away,” he explained.

Lamont impressively passed 17 riders in the opening lap then made his way up to the leading bunch to finish a creditable fifth place.

“I was certainly pushing the limits,” said Lamont afterwards.

“I had a few problems during the week sorting out Jamie’s bike, which is not actually as flash as my usual bike. I was actually quite surprised with how well I went. I finished top five here last year, so to finish No.2 is pretty pleasing. To be out in front like that was a bit of a shock really.

“In the first race I just checked out and in the second race I had a huge battle with (Mount Maunganui’s national MX2 No.3) Rhys Carter.”

Lamont now switches his focus back to competing for Choice Motorsports BikesportNZ.com KTM in the Australian Supercross Championships. He is currently sixth overall in that series with just the sixth and final round to come, in Toowoomba on November 16.

For the past two seasons, Lamont has been a part of the three-rider team to represent New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations and his performance in Germany just a few weeks ago helped his country to finish 20th of the more than 40 nations entered.

To be without a team ride for the upcoming New Zealand Motocross Championships, which kick off in Timaru on February 8, is almost unbelievable.

If Lamont can push national No.1 Columb and national No.3 Carter to the finish line at Taupo, he would surely be an exciting addition to any motocross race team this summer.

“We are talking with people at the moment, but are keeping our options open.”

Lamont is supported by Fox, FMF, Philip Parry Contracting Ltd, Advance Physiotherapy, BikesportNZ.com and Karl Mason Builders.

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