The Winners
North Island Junior MX Champs
As weekends go, the 2014 North Island Junior Champs fall into the cold, hellishly long, dirty, hard category – and that is an understatement.
The Saturday was cancelled because of the weather and track conditions, a 100% better day was promised for the morrow but, unfortunately, bucket loads of rain came down on the Saturday night as well, so Sunday’s racing began in a bog.
Riders with experience in cross country or trail rides had a distinct advantage. Racing was about keeping the bike upright, staying on and crossing the finish line. The “clutch-riders” had a really hard time and bikes blowing motors was not uncommon. Even the 250s were audibly having the power sucked out of them. However, as the track dried out, conditions improved and the racing got progressively faster in all the classes.
All those of you who showed grit and determination and stayed and raced, deserve pats on the back. You are all winners. You beat the weather.
For the 65cc class, the conditions were particularly atrocious. They were supposed to have a 10 minute practice but the first lap took the little bikes 14 minutes! Madoc Dixon was the top local finisher in 5th position followed by Kristian Crane 9th, Logan Simmonds 12th and Luke Fraser-Brown 13th.
Kristian had held it together well for the first two races and was running with the top 5 until the last race. Unfortunately, he dropped his bike in a corner when his Dad was miles away and lost valuable positions.
(Dad Steve, by the way, is still suffering from very sore legs. He hasn't had the training for 100m sprints from dead cold starts up and down that big hill in the middle!).
Madoc's last race was also his worst. He came off on a berm and lost 5 positions but is still happy with his top 5 place as he has another year in the same class.
Luke should be very proud of himself. There were many who, amid steaming bikes and wrecked clutches, pulled out of the qualifying race but Luke did not. In races 2 and 3, he really pulled out the stops, lapped some riders and finished well inside the top 10. If he hadn't been talked out of starting race 1 (not by his parents it must be said) then he would have been a lot higher up the overall points table.
Sam Cooper (Tauranga) didn’t want to race on Sunday morning but is now glad he did. He’s getting a bit more of the “mongrel” in him and improved with every race going from 8th to 6th. He is well pleased with his 7th overall result in his first year in the 8-10 Yrs 85cc class. Matamata’s Brodie Connolly won the class with Kyan Loomans (Te Puke) in 6th place.
Kyan did extremely well in the tough conditions as he hasn't long been riding the 85. Kyan was another one caught out in the last race. A rider dropped his bike right in front of Kyan so over the handlebars he went. However, he didn't give up and fought back from the rear to secure his awesome 6th place overall.
James Scott is a mighty good cross country rider and it showed. He convincingly won the 11-12 Yrs 85cc class (and had a 6th in the 125s). Dylan Kenny was 5th, Trent Duggan from the Mount was 7th and Alex Fraser-Brown and Dylan Tredinnick were 17th and 19th respectively.
Trent’s goal was the top 10 but he was top 5 material. “I came 5th in the first two races,” he reports, “but got taken out in the first lap of race 3. I was dead last and had to go hard out to get back to 13th. I fell off a bit in the practice because there were no lines. But it got better and there were ruts so you could choose more”.
Alex rode consistently in this very competitive class. His first season on an 85 has been slightly plagued by minor injuries but he has shown speed and potential. Holding back too much on the starts is a problem but once underway, he claws brilliantly back but then just runs out of laps.
Max Purvis and Trent Collins filled the first two spots in the 13-16 85ccs with Tauranga’s Kydd Catley in 12th. A good result for Kydd considering the points were for 2 races only. He was running 6th in the first race but DNFed when his bike began overheating near the end.
In the 125s, Josh Tredinnick was riding fantastically and managed 8th place overall in the 12-14 Years, in spite of cooking his clutch in race 1 and having to fall back on his practice bike. Brad Cameron was just out of the top 10 in 11th place.
In the 15-16 years age group, Tyler Steiner was 7th but Jayden Turnwald made the podium in 3rd place.
Jovhann Phillips’s 2nd place in the 14-16 250cc class was the hardest earned 2nd he has ever had. The shoulder he popped at Taupo last week was hurting all day and meant he had no real strength in his right arm. The last race was a crucial one, and a tight one. Jovhann conserved his energy and attacked at the end to give him 3rd place and the second overall.
Well done to all the riders and also to the tractor drivers (and pushers) who towed all those vehicles in and out.
Full results are on My Laps.
The above photos are from and others are on Bridgette’s page and Debbie’s page.
