All to ride for at final round

All to ride for at final round

Dominant performances at round one meant a handful of riders have already made their mark on the North Island Motocross Championships series.

Riders such as Taupo's Brad Groombridge, Rotorua's Scotty Canham, Karaka's Kurtis Lilly, Feilding's Tony Cvitanovich, Taupo's Wyatt Chase, Mangakino's Maximus Purvis, Oparau's James Scott, Matamata's Brodie Connolly and Rongotea's Rhys Jillings have established themselves as the most likely champions this year

But they should be warned not to rest on their laurels because there is still everything to ride for at the second and final round of the championships at the Hawke's Bay Motorcycle Club's Ngaruroro Raceway facility on Mere Road, near Hastings, this weekend.

The one rider with the most at stake is Cvitanovich, the leading individual at the opening round of the series near Himatangi last month.

The 15-year-old took both his KTM 250SXF and KTM 125 bikes into battle at Himatangi and, although he was the busiest rider at the event by far and scored more race wins than any other rider, he was also perhaps unlucky in that he did not win all three classes he entered.

He did achieve remarkably well, however, winning one class, sharing first place overall in another and winding up a close second in a third category.

Of the nine races he tackled, he won five of them and twice finished runner-up, dominating the junior 14-16 years' 250cc class, finishing first equal in the senior 125cc class and settling for runner-up spot, behind Taupo's Chase (Yamaha YZ125), in the junior 15-16 years' 125cc class as well.

Top local competitors expected to excel this weekend include Napier's Luka Freemantle, Havelock North's Ollie Ayre, Kotemaori's cross-country racing hero Reece Lister, Taradale quartet Rhys Wheatley, Dougal Morice, Hamish McIntyre and Scott Bentley and Hastings riders Hadleigh Griffiths, Troy Newton, Matt Crothers, Tom Robottom and Luke McGrath, to name a few, although dozens of top national-grade riders are expected to flock to Ngaruroro Raceway to challenge them.

As with round one, this weekend's racing will feature junior racing on the Saturday and veterans', women's and support classes included with MX1, MX2 and 125cc racing on the Sunday.

ENDS

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