KEY POINTS:
The only person who can beat Damien King to the national 125cc motocross crown this season is perhaps Damien King himself.
The two-time 125cc champion is well in command of the class at the halfway stage of the four-round competition and the closest thing to catching him seems to be his own shadow.
The 31-year-old from Cambridge is, therefore, brimming with confidence as he heads to round three of the New Zealand Motocross Championships in Hawkes Bay next weekend.
With 25 points allocated for each win and King 26 points in front of Christchurch rider Justin McDonald (Honda), it means the Yamaha star has now got an entire race up his sleeve and is well on target to reclaim the 125cc trophy.
King is running away with the championship, having won five of six races in the two rounds thus far.
"But I don't want to get ahead of myself," he said. "The championship's not won yet. I want to be strong at Hastings and then I have the final round in my old home town of New Plymouth."
King is one of the few riders entered in two classes and he is on the podium in both of them.
He was third best in the 250cc class in Timaru and repeated that podium position at Rotorua, putting him third in the championship standings.
Just ahead of King, at the top of the 250cc class standings, a fierce battle is being waged between Hawera's Luke Burkhart (Suzuki) and Rotorua's Michael Phillips (Kawasaki). Burkhart leads but only by one point from Phillips.
Both men raced for NZ at the Oceania Motocross in Australia a week ago but they'll be pushing that mateship aside and be back to fighting each other at Hastings.
It's similarly tight at the top of the 500cc class, where just six points separate series leader Cody Cooper (Mount Maunganui, Honda) from his main challenger, Hawera international Daryl Hurley (Suzuki).
