KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's Hamish Dobbyn showed bravery as he lined up to race at the World Junior Motocross Championships in Bulgaria at the weekend.
The 15-year-old Yamaha star from Warkworth had broken his arm in practice nearly three weeks ago, just hours before he was set to fly to Europe. With his arm heavily braced, Dobbyn trained near his Belgian base, under the guidance of Harry Everts, father of 10-time world champion Stefan Everts and himself a multiple world champion.
Defying the odds, Dobbyn showed he had the pace to run with the elite, and he survived the first cull, among the 84 chosen from the hundreds of hopefuls from around the world.
The riders formed into two groups of 42 and Dobbyn was fighting among the top 20 of his group. In the first qualifier, he was in 17th place, but then got bumped on the last lap to 19th. "Unfortunately only the top 18 progressed," said Dobbyn's New Zealand manager Paul Williams.
Dobbyn was forced into the last qualifier race, but then things started to unravel as a loose bolt caused the rear brakes to jam and brought him to an abrupt halt.
The World Junior Motocross Championships next year are in Holland, in deep sand and Dobbyn thrives in those conditions.
Dobbyn will now race a Belgian motocross next weekend before returning home to train for the Australian Championship at Coolum in September.
