READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE

The New Zealand phase of Josiah Natzke’s 2015 motocross campaign is now behind him as he looks ahead to the rest of the season racing in Europe.

The Waikato teenager was in devastating form in this year’s New Zealand Senior Motocross Championships, which wrapped up with the fourth and final round near Pukekohe on Sunday, Natzke taking his CMR Red Bull KTM 125 to easily defend his national 125cc crown.

The 16-year-old Hamilton rider scored another hat-trick of wins at the Harrisville track on Sunday, making it 11 race victories from 12 starts, allowing him to seal up the title with more than an entire race up his sleeve.

Taupo’s Cohen Chase (Total BikesportNZ.com Yamaha YZ125) finished the series in runner-up spot, a massive 57 points behind Natzke, with BikesportNZ.com-supported recent CMR Red Bull KTM team signing Ben Broad, of Ngatea, finishing the championship third overall, just four points further back.

Nobody came close to threatening Natzke in the 125cc class all weekend and, just to give himself a little bit of extra “intensity training” before he heads overseas, Natzke also raced his 125cc bike in the MX2 (250cc) class on Sunday.

The MX2 races following immediately after his 125cc races had finished and so there is no doubt this also gave his fitness training a boost ahead of the European phase of his season.

He will race for the KTM factory in the EMX 125 European Championships, the eight-round competition beginning at Trentino, Arco di Trento in Italy on April 19 and concluding on August 30 in Assen, in the Netherlands, at the end of August.

“My trip to Europe has come up pretty fast. I’m very excited about it and leave on Wednesday,” said Natzke. “I’m heading across to the European winter. It will be cold, but you could say I’m all warmed up at the moment.”

Natzke became the youngest rider ever to win a senior motocross crown in New Zealand when he raced away with the 125cc title last season and now he’s made it two in a row, both title wins coming even before he was obliged to graduate to the senior ranks.

Riders must turn senior in New Zealand when they reach the age of 17 and Natzke is still 10 months short of celebrating his 17th birthday. In fact, he will have contested the entire 2015 EMX 125 European Championships before he reaches that age next January.

“I want to thank my team and also (Kiwi former motocross world champion) Ben Townley for preparing me over the past six months.”

Meanwhile, fellow KTM rider Kirk Gibbs, from Australia, was also using the New Zealand Motocross Championships as a build-up for other things.

Gibbs, from Queensland, was in New Zealand to contest the MX1 class at the New Zealand Motocross Championships again this season and he wrapped up his campaign on Sunday with a solid overall runner-up finish in the Kiwi championships.

Australian No.2 Gibbs crashed his KTM 450 in the first race of the day at Harrisville and was forced to settle for seventh at the chequered flag, but he bounced back to win the next two MX1 races from eventual champion Cody Cooper (The Honda Shop Racing Team CRF450), of Mount Maunganui.

“Apart from the crash in race one today, this was a great way to end my New Zealand campaign,” said the 25-year-old Gibbs.

“I’m ready now to tackle the Australian Motocross Championships (which kick off at Horsham, in Victoria, on March 29) and that’s the main job for me this season,” said Gibbs, now No.2 on both sides of the Tasman Sea.

“This is a big confidence boost for me. Cody (Cooper) is always fast at home, so it was good to beat him a couple of times today.”

JT Racing NZ Motocross Championships leading final standings:

MX1 (450cc):

Cody Cooper (Mount Maunganui) Honda, 263 points; 2. Kirk Gibbs (Australia) KTM, 239; 3. John Phillips (Rotorua) Honda, 216; 4. Kade Mosig (Australia) Yamaha, 211; 5. Brad Groombridge (Taupo) Suzuki, 182; 6. Scott Columb (Queenstown) Yamaha, 165.

MX2 (250cc):

Jay Wilson (Australia) Yamaha, 290 points; 2. Hamish Harwood (Takaka) KTM, 240; 3. Micah McGoldrick (Amberley) Honda, 206; 4. Scotty Canham (Rotorua) Kawasaki, 172; 5. Hadleigh Knight (Atiamuri) Husqvarna, 164; 6. Logan Blackburn (Te Puke) Suzuki, 150.

125cc 2-stroke:

Josiah Natzke (Hamilton) KTM, 288 points; 2. Cohen Chase (Taupo) Yamaha, 231; 3. Benjamin Broad (Ngatea) KTM, 227; 4. Courtney Duncan (Palmerston, Otago) Yamaha, 225; 5. Kurtis Lilly (Pukekohe) Husqvarna, 200; 6. Liam Draper (Howick) Husqvarna, 167.

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