OPARAU’S James Scott tries to chase down Brodie Connolly during an MX2 race in Whakatane recently. PHOTO TROY BAKER
It was a case of close but not quite for many of the King Country riders who competed at Summercross recently.
Ōpārau’s James Scott rallied hard on his YZF250 but he was unable to catch an impressive Brodie Connolly, while Jayden McAloon showed plenty of promise on his KTM 250F.
James is the strongest and most consistent MX2 rider in the country but was a bit below his best at the re-designed Awakaponga track in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
He will be a threat though when Woodville rocks around in a couple of weeks. James finished second to Connolly but saved his best for last as he produced his quickest laps of the day.
Jayden finished in the top 15 in all races in what was a large field of 20-odd riders.
Like James, he produced his fastest lap of the day in their final race.
BOPMCC president Symon Hall said it was having riders from various tracks come across to compete. “We always enjoy getting guys of James’s calibre. It’s always good seeing the riders from King Country and those ways come across to compete.”
It was the 50th anniversary of Summercross and more than 500 riders took part, including eight riders from the King Country, six juniors and James and Jayden.
On day one, seven youngsters from the region took part in the mini and larger races at Awakaponga with some outstanding success.
On the main track, Ōtorohanga’s Ryder van der Heyden and Te Kūiti’s Samuel Gray performed strongly in the JMX Pro 65 8-11 years class, which featured a whopping 30 competitors.
Dominic Everleigh was giving KX85 the full throttle in his JMX 85cc race and was more than competitive, lining up against 36 other riders.
On the smaller track, Ōtorohanga’s Evan Gray took part in the 7-8 years 65cc races and performed admirably, however, the real highlight was Deklan Burton, who picked up two seconds and a fourth to finish second overall in his 6-8 years MX 50cc class.
Rome van der Heyden was in the same grade and finished 10th overall, showing he is another King Country rider with plenty of talent.
Zoe Burton was another rider to shine on the track, placing seventh overall in her mini girls 65cc/over 53cc trail section.
She finished sixth, eighth and seventh in her three races round the track. Next up for the King Country riders is Woodville, the main event on the motocross calendar where it is hoped the likes of Zara Gray might race.
Following that there are a series of club events and races at various tracks around the North Island, while some may also attend junior nationals in April in Invercargill.
