Honda Summercross Set to Explode

Honda Summercross Set to Explode

DECEMBER 19, 2017: It will again be a "Who's Who" of Kiwi motocross talent when the big annual Honda Summercross kicks off at Whakatane in less than two weeks' time.

The Whakatane Summercross is set for December 29 and 30, when the cream of New Zealand motocross racers will flock to the Awakaponga circuit, near Matata, just outside Whakatane.

The event again this year acts as a springboard for riders heading into the busy part of the season, culminating with the four-round New Zealand Motocross Championships in February and March.

It will be hard to look much further than Mount Maunganui’s national MX1 champion Cody Cooper for the main trophy winner for this popular post-Christmas blow-out.

He was the key winner at Summercross last season and in 2015 too, so if he wins again this time around it will be three in a row and the former Opotiki man's fourth overall Summercross win in total.

Recently crowned national supercross champion for 2017, Cooper is in top form at the moment, having won the MX1 class at the Waikato Motocross Championships in early November and then repeating the feat at the Auckland Motocross Championships at Tuakau two weeks after that.

Riding for the Honda Racing Team, the 34-year-old Kiwi international will have a solid crew to support him and he’ll be joined on the track by team-mates John Phillips, from Rotorua, Tauranga's former Rangiora rider Micah McGoldrick and Cambridge's Trent Collins.

Meanwhile, the winner of the MX1 class at October's MX Fest event in Taupo, Mangakino's Kayne Lamont (Altherm JCR Yamaha racing Team), and national cross-country champion Brad Groombridge (Action Moto Suzuki), of Taupo, will add even more depth to the premier class and this makes picking a winner almost impossible.

It's interesting to note that Groombridge will be a dual-class ironman at the Summercross event, riding both the MX1 and MX2 classes.

The MX2 class will be bulging with hot talent too, Takapuna's national MX2 champion Hamish Harwood (CML KTM Racing Team) having to face up to top riders such as Taupo's Wyatt Chase (also on a KTM), who won the class at the recent Auckland Motocross Championships, along with riders such as Kotemaori's Reece Lister, Tauranga's Josh Tredinnick and Rangiotu's James Anderson. Perhaps even Dunedin hero Sam Cuthbertson will make the trip north.

The cream of the sport are expected to arrive for Summercross with Mangakino's Maximus Purvis, Te Puke's Tyler Steiner, Oparau's James Scott, Wairoa's Thomas Watts, Taihape's Hayden Smith, Karaka's Kurtis Lilly, Ngatea's Ben Broad, and Tauranga's Royden White, to name just a few, among the more fancied names.

It will also be worth watching out for hot local heroes such as Whakatane riders Darren Capill, Sam McPherson, Sam Middleton, Brandon Willis, Troy Gebert, Brodie Hatcher, Vinnie Cater, Flynn Watts, Aydan Hall, Aaron Colville, Troy Wilson, Charlotte Knight, Caleb Marshall, Sophie Tierney, Jordan Prosser, Addison Watts and Hadley Gibson.

A mini motocross section has features that will really test the youngest riders on day one of the event, although the more advanced of the 65cc class riders are also invited to race with the juniors on the main track on Friday.

“This event will be the first big hit-out of the season to feature all the major teams,” said host Bay of Plenty Motorcycle Club spokesman Tony Rees. “It is a great time of year for racing and, fingers crossed, the weather should be fine."

The track has been spruced up for the event, with fresh sawdust trucked in to replenish that section of the course, while the giant "ski-jump" and a new "step-up jump" and roller section should add to the excitement for riders and spectators alike.

The Honda Whakatane Summercross is a two-day affair, with minis and juniors racing on Friday and the seniors, women and veterans racing on Saturday.

If this event doesn't shake out the cobwebs, then nothing will, and riders and fans alike will use this as a form indicator before the next big race meeting, the annual Honda New Zealand Grand Prix at Woodville on January 27-28, followed by the four-round nationals that kick off near New Plymouth on February 4.

ENDS

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