Final Showdown to Decide Motocross National Titles

The 2017 New Zealand Motocross Championships

Final Showdown to Decide National Titles

CAPTION: MX2 class contender Hadleigh Knight (Husqvarna), from Reporoa, who rates the Taupo track as one of his favourites. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

MARCH 21, 2017: A competition that remains undecided until the final throw of the dice, or until the final card has been dealt, is perhaps the best contest of all.

And that's the situation as this season's New Zealand Motocross Championships head to Taupo for the Penny Homes-sponsored fourth and final round on Saturday.

On many occasions in the past one rider has dominated so totally that, by the final round of the series, the only talking point has been about who might finish second or third.

But this year's Mazda and DRD magazine-sponsored nationals will go right down to the wire in all three bike categories.

The premier MX1 class in on a knife-edge, with defending national champion Cody Cooper, of Mount Maunganui, in second position, but just one point behind visiting Australian Dean Ferris.

Cooper had led the series after the first two rounds, but Ferris came on strong at round three at Himatangi two weeks ago, wiping out Cooper's 13-point advantage and snatching away the top spot.

Both these riders have expressed a liking for the sand and pumice-based Taupo track, so a fierce final showdown is expected.

Two more top Australians, Todd Waters and Luke Styke, are currently third and fourth in the standings, with the first of the Kiwi privateers, Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter, in fifth, and all three of these riders are capable of winning a race, the overall for the day or even the MX1 title itself on Saturday.

Local riders Kayne Lamont and Brad Groombridge, ranked sixth and seventh respectively, will appreciate any home turf advantage that might be offered and they are separated by just five points.

This battle-within-a-battle between Mangakino's Lamont and Taupo's Groombridge could be worth Saturday's admission price alone.

The 125cc class is tight at the top too, with Taihape's Hayden Smith and Karaka's Kurtis Lilly sharing race wins throughout the series.

Smith leads Lilly by eight points as they head to Taupo, with the third-ranked rider, Nelson's Hayden Wilkinson, perhaps too distant in the points, 51 behind Lilly, to hope for an upset.

The only category that could possibly be viewed as slightly uncertain is the MX2 (250cc) class, where Takaka's defending champion Hamish Harwood enjoys a relatively safe 11-point margin over his nearest challenger, Christchurch's Dylan Walsh.

If Walsh wins every MX2 race at Taupo on Saturday and Harwood finishes runner-up each time, as happened at the previous round at Himatangi two weeks ago, then Harwood will retain his title by just two points.

And this means, even though Harwood holds the biggest advantage of any of the class leaders, he's still not able to relax just yet.

Plenty of other competitors in this class besides Walsh could spoil Harwood's party too, with riders such as Waitakere's Ethan Martens, Te Puke's Logan Blackburn and Reporoa's Hadleigh Knight always impressive, although the smart money is probably still on Harwood to bring the title home.

Racing kicks off at Taupo's famous Digger McEwen Motocross Park on Saturday at about 10am.

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