King A Tired, Old Man ... Or Is He?

King A Tired, Old Man ... Or Is He?

by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
November 19, 2012

"I really felt every one of my 43 years on this planet," said world veterans' champion and national MX2 No.1 Darryll King at the end of the day's racing at the annual Auckland Motocross Championships near Tuakau on Sunday.

"I need to do quite a bit of work. My training for the upcoming nationals needs to get serious right now," he declared.

These comments were despite the fact the Fox DC Fuzion Yamaha rider had just won two of the main classes at the two-day Auckland event, once again proving himself to be the man to beat on the New Zealand motocross scene.

King took a Yamaha YZ450F four-stroke to score a hat-trick of wins in the veterans' class, his only challenge coming from 2007 world veterans' champion and fellow Yamaha star Tony Cooksley, the Aucklander managing to apply pressure on King in the day's second rain-lashed race as the suddenly-slick track worked against King's aggressive style.

King then rolled his YZ250 two-stroke to the line to also tackle the MX2 (250cc) class, finishing 1-1-4 and taking that title by just one point from teenage rising star Kayne Lamont (KTM), of Mangakino, with fellow Yamaha rider Ethan Martens, of Waitakere, finishing the day third overall.

"Yes, I grabbed a reasonable start in that last race but then nearly lost it a couple of corners later. I think that switching back and forth from a 450cc four-stroke to a 250cc two-stroke caught me out a little bit on the treacherous surface. I got terribly out-of-shape.

"But then, I'm a very strategic rider and I think I knew, at the back of my mind, that fourth in that race would be enough for me to win the day overall, so I didn't push too hard.

"It was fantastic for Kayne (Lamont) to win that last race. We need to see more young guys coming on strong. He might be our next world champion, who knows? He's certainly lifted his game in recent months.

"My goal this summer is to retain my No.1 plate in the MX2 class. But I need to get training a little harder I think."

King has already hinted that 2013 may be his last season of competitive racing and he has indicated that he'd like to "go out with a bang and make it a three-peat of national MX2 titles", adding the 2013 national title to the ones he collected in 2011 and 2012.

ENDS

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