Motocross glory beckons

Wairarapa's Callum Moore has been training hard ... at the school of hard knocks.
The 15-year-old Yamaha ace from Featherston has been granted time off school in recent weeks so he can immerse himself in training for the race of his young life - a tilt at a world motocross title, no less.
Callum was last month named as one of 24 riders in the official New Zealand squad to tackle the Roadcraft FIM Junior Motocross World Championship in Taupo, on August 15-16, and he's taking the challenge very seriously indeed.
"I've been up to Cambridge to stay and train with (former New Zealand motocross champion and fulltime coach) Mike Cotter," Callum said. "And it's been great. My speed has improved and I've changed my riding style a bit too."
"I get my bodyweight further forward over the handlebars now, to keep the front end more stable. I'm not screwing up as much now," he laughed.
The international stars are expected to start arriving in New Zealand in the coming days, with world-class riders entered from as far away as France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Guatemala, the United States and, of course, Australia.
"I don't know anything about them. I don't recognise the names at all but I know they're the world's elite. I'm pretty confident I'll do well ... they won't know much about me either will they?
"Taupo's a cool track and I usually go well there. I finished fourth overall in my class at the nationals when they were raced at Taupo in April but I didn't really have a good run that weekend - I wasn't clicking at all.
"Things are different now. I love my bike, a Yamaha YZ85, and it's all set up for the sandy Taupo track."
The Year 11 Kuranui College pupil hopes a solid performance at the world championships in Taupo next weekend will propel him on his way to an international racing career, where perhaps he can follow in the wheel tracks of Kiwi international Yamaha star Josh Coppins in Europe.
"Racing professionally overseas would be awesome, but I do realise it's a lot of hard work too."