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PURVIS STEPS UP THE PACE

Bikesportnz Posted on by

Momentum is building for Kiwi rider Maximus Purvis across the Tasman Sea.

The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team rider has now won three consecutive national championship events in Australia and, after five of 10 rounds – although the MXD class comprises just eight rounds – in the 2018 Australian Motocross Nationals, he is closing in on the lead in the MX Development (under-19) class.

Purvis’ initial results in the Australian series saw him down in eighth position overall in the MX Development (MXD) class after two rounds, not something the 17-year-old from Mangakino was probably used to after he had been so dominant in clinching the 125cc crown during the New Zealand Motocross Championships just a few weeks earlier.

He finished with a 9-13 score-card from his two MXD class races at the series opener at Newry, in Victoria, last month and followed that with 13-7 race finishes at round two a couple of weeks later in Appin, New South Wales.

But then things began to really click for the Yamaha ace.

At the double-header rounds three and four, at Wonthaggi, in Victoria, a week ago, he managed to finish 2-1 on both days, sharing wins with Australian Bailey Malkiewicz, but earning the Kiwi the overall win at both rounds thanks to the count-back rule.

For round five at Murray Bridge, South Australia, at the weekend just gone, Purvis was unstoppable, scoring back-to-back wins and elevating himself now to third in the championship standings, just five points behind joint leaders Malkiewicz and 17-year-old Morgan Fogarty, from Kinglake West, north of Melbourne.

After topping qualifying, Purvis stalked Fogarty for the entire opening MXD race at Murray Bridge, before pulling the trigger on the penultimate lap and then going on to claim a 0.63-second win from Victoria’s Fogarty.

Purvis took command of the second race from the start and stayed there, winning the race by 0.94 of a second from Fogarty.

The next round of the series is set for Conondale, Queensland, on July 1.

Fellow Kiwis Kayne Lamont and Hamish Harwood have won the Australian MXD title in the past, Lamont in 2012 and Harwood in 2013.

The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing team is supported by Altherm Window Systems, Yamaha, JCR, CRC, Ados, GYTR, Yamalube, bLU cRU, Fox Racing, Hollands Collision Centre, Star Moving, Ward Demolition, Pirelli, Akrapovic, DID, NGK, Renthal, Motomuck, www.workshopgraphics.co.nz, Motoseat, SKF, Vertex Pistons, Rtech Plastics and Etnies.

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

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MXD Round 5 Overall Results:

  1. Maximus Purvis 70
  2. Morgan Fogarty 64
  3. Hugh McKay 60
  4. Riley Dukes 56
  5. Brodie Ellis 49
  6. Jye Dickson 47
  7. Rhys Budd 44
  8. Bailey Malkiewicz 44
  9. Jake Williams 42
  10. Mason Rowe 42
  11. Dylan Wood 41
  12. Mat Fabry 38
  13. Mackenzie O’Bree 34
  14. Tyler Darby 34
  15. Liam Walsh 33
  16. Micheal Murphy 33
  17. Deakin Hellier 26
  18. Callum Norton 25
  19. Billy Bray 24
  20. Navrin Grothues 23

 

MXD Championship Standings After Round 5 of  8:

  1. Bailey Malkiewicz 292
  2. Morgan Fogarty 292
  3. Maximus Purvis (NZ) 287
  4. Hugh McKay 278
  5. Riley Dukes 268
  6. Brodie Ellis 249
  7. Callum Norton 246
  8. Rhys Budd 227
  9. Mason Rowe 210
  10. Jye Dickson 209

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