Backflips New Zealand Motocross Championships race report, Round 1 Timaru.

When the dust had finally settled today at the conclusion of round one of racing
at the Backflips New Zealand Motocross Championships, more than one surprise
had shuffled the top order of New Zealand’s motocross elite, I am Lachie Columb
and I love this sport.

The day began with moto1 of the National 125cc class and things went mostly as
predicted with racing being close especially in the top 5 but with newly turned 17
year old female phenomenon Courtney Duncan on her Yamaha YZ125 taking line
honors from Hadleigh Knight (KTM) and Logan Blackburn (YAM).

In the MX2 class Moto1 holeshot hnours went to the Kawasaki of Kieran Leigh
who lost the lead to JCR Yamaha YZ250F pilot Scott Columb of Queenstown, with
the main bunch being led by current MX2 champion and World vet champ the
legendary Daryll King (YAM). Towards the end of the moto DK passed Columb
who quickly retaliated taking the moto win from DK and fresh KTM NZ rider
Brock Winston from Australia in 3rd.

For MX1 moto1 MotoCity Belray Suzuki pilot Cody Cooper took the holeshot
closely followed by Ben Townley on his CarltonDry Honda CRF450. The moto had
little surprises with BT taking the win followed closely by Cooper and KTM pilot
Todd Waters.

Round 2 of the 3 race event was where racing really got exciting in all three
premier classes. In the 125cc class, race 1 winning Courtney Duncan went down
in the first turn. After losing more than a minute to the front runners Duncan set
about clocking up the fastest laps of the class eventually working her way back to
2nd by moto’s end with the race being won by Cameron ‘HotPants’ Vaughan, with
Duncan in 2nd and Logan Blackburn (YAM) rounding out the top 3.

Next up was MX2 and the drama didn’t stop when both the top 2 place getters
from race 1 went down in turn 1, out front however it was the #555 Honda of
Cam Dillon out front early before dropping anchor mid race to eventually finish
6th. The race was won by Aussie import Brock Winston showing great speed on
his KTM250SX, Columb eventually fought his way into 2nd with another new face
Aussie Jesse Dobson (KAW) rounding out the podium.

MX1 Moto2 and the mayhem continued first with the race having to be red
flagged after a start gate mishap. When the moto was restarted it was Townley
taking the lead only to have a massive get off on a step up (BT left in the
Ambulance). Hard charging Todd Waters (KTM) won a legion of new New
Zealand fans when he rode almost the entire race standing up after his sub
frame became bolt-less before he was eventually FORCED to retire with his bike
suffering terminal mechanical damage (Spoilt brats take note here as he didn’t
drop his bike in a tantrum but rather ran, pushing his bike back to his mechanics
to ensure it was ready for moto3). Cooper unchallenged out front practically trail
rode his RMZ450 to the race win, conserving energy for moto3. Another KTM
pilot Kirk Gibbs also showed great grit by mounting his moto charge from nearly
last to finish second at moto’s end ahead of new JCR Yamaha YZ450F pilot Billy
MacKenzie in 3rd.

Round 3 of racing and the 125cc class was first up again. After getting to the
front early a small mistake by the ultra impressive Courtney Duncan dropped
her from 1st to 3rd where she seemed to be happy to stay till moto’s end. Word
has it Duncan is off to the land of the red, white and blue (USA) for a ride with the
JGR Yamaha team to contest the major amateur events over there. Moto 3 in the
125cc class was won by the #808 Yamaha of Cam Vaughan from another Yamaha
this time piloted by Logan Blackburn.

The final moto in MX2 saw the #1 Yamaha of DK get out to an early lead and
looked impressive. After flying the “Purple Protest” flag allegedly against fellow
Yamaha pilot Columb at moto2 end King went about going for the race win. The
protest apprently lit a fire within Columb as he went about his work, constantly
setting faster and faster lap time as he became more and more comfortable on
his new blue steed. As the moto continued Columb worked his way past Carter in
3rd and despite King showing some serious race craft and creative riding, Columb
eventually made short work of King and pulled away for an impressive moto3
win. Followed across the line by DK and Carter on his MotoCity Suzuki in 3 rd.

Moto3 in MX1 and the gate dropped with Billy Mac taking the holeshot. After
leading for 5 laps Billy dropped back to 2nd allowing Waters to take a popular
race win with Cooper finishing in 3rd and taking the overall for the day in MX1 .

Round 1 of the 2013 BackFlips NZ Motocross championships was a superb start
to what will be an awesome championship. Word came in at the end of the day
from the Honda team manager Peter Finlay that Townley will be ok for round
two but with Cooper in charge and leading by 42 points over BT and this being
Coops “least favorite track” of the series will he be able to make up the lost
ground? Especially with the hard charging KTM duo of Waters and Gibbs? In
MX2 nothing is as cut and dry and every round looks to be super important in a
class where the top 5 or 6 riders seem to be a cut above the rest in terms of not
only speed, fitness and skill but also starting ability. In the 125cc class round one
winner Duncan appears to be destined to go stateside and miss the remaining
rounds while Blackburn and Vaughan must be weary of new challengers like
Chohen Chase (KTM) and old dogs ‘o’ war like ex-GP racer Cam Negus (HUSKY).
There aint nothing like Motocross and the next round in Patetonga in two weeks
time is set to be a doozy so keep an eye on here nzmoto.co.nz for a same day race
report….

Cedit : Lachie Columb – OFF ROAD ADVENTURE CENTRE

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