Bay of Plenty’s Kayne Lamont is back, re-asserting his position at the top of the New Zealand motocross ranks.

The 2014 national MX2 champion had been sidelined with injury since July, but he returned to racing at the annual Auckland Motocross Championships near Pukekohe on Sunday and almost immediately picked up where he left off, by winning.

With support from Yamaha New Zealand, Valleyfresh, WIL Sport, Altherm JCR Yamaha and BikesportNZ.com, the 21-year-old from Mangakino was excited to make his debut on the new Yamaha YZ250F four-stroke bike and he didn’t disappoint.

He struggled in his first race, suffering from painful “arm pump” and with the bike’s suspension not quite dialled into the treacherous track conditions, but he still managed to fight his way to second, finishing five seconds behind rising young Kiwi star Josiah Natzke, of Hamilton.

“The track was difficult, with black tyres marks being left on the rock-hard soil. Because it was first race in five months, my fitness was not at its best and my strength was down, but, apart from that, I felt good on the bike.”

Suspension settings were altered and the next race was an entirely different story, with Lamont clearing out to win by a convincing 15-second margin over Natzke (CMR Red Bull KTM 250F) – the two riders were now level at the top of the points with just one race remaining.

“I was surprised at how much of a gap I pulled on Josiah. I guess the changed suspension settings must have worked,” said Lamont.

Race three was show-time for Lamont and, with another solid lead in the race, he delighted the crowd with whip jumps off the main hill at the Pukekohe track.

Second in that race was visiting Australian rider Caleb Ward (CMR Red Bull KTM 250F), with Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (The Honda Shop Racing Team CRF250) finishing third. Natzke crashed midway through the race, but recovered to finish fifth, behind Rotorua’s Scott Canham (Patterson O’Connor BikesportNZ.com Kawasaki KX250F).

Lamont won the day with 72 points, Natzke settled for second with 63 points and Ward rounded out the podium with 57 points.

“I still have work to do yet on my fitness and testing to do on the bike and will be riding as many events as I can before the nationals,” Lamont said.

Lamont will now focus his attention on being in good shape to hopefully win the annual Whakatane Summercross just after Christmas, then the annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in January, before he defends his New Zealand crown in the four-round national championship series, which kicks off in Taranaki in February.

Lamont is supported by Yamaha NZ, Valleyfresh, Triple B, WIL Sport, BikesportNZ.com, Shift, Fox, Workshop Graphics, Phillip Parry Contracting Ltd, Altherm JCR Yamaha, Pro Taper and Talon.

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

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