Motorsport: Top riders hit Taupo for Club of Nations

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Rugby league has the State of Origin; and motocross has the Club of Nations: its own version of the "mate versus mate" showdown.

This Saturday, the Taupo Motorcycle Club will host the second annual Club of Nations Motocross, a fundraiser to assist New Zealand's three-rider national team to again enter the sport's "Olympic Games of motocross", the annual Motocross of Nations, this year at St Jean d'Angely, western France, in September.

It's expensive to send a team of three riders, their bikes, mechanics and gear to the other side of the world each year and, with this in mind, the Taupo club came up with a domestic equivalent of this great international event, the "Club of Nations".

Racing this Saturday will be at the Digger McEwen Motorcycle Park, on the outskirts of Taupo.

It was a huge success last season, with the Pukekohe Motorcycle Club eventually taking the crown.

A total of 20 New Zealand clubs signed up to be involved at the inaugural event last season and the same number have also entered this weekend..

The entry fee from each of the clubs, plus a gold coin donation from the hundreds of spectators expected to flood the circuit, and the proceeds from raffle ticket sales will be a welcome boost to the Kiwi team's bank account.

Each club team comprises six riders - three junior and three senior riders - who will compete on 85cc, 125cc, 250cc and 450cc machines.

Past and current champions will be competing in Taupo, including brothers Darryll, Shayne and Damien King, while perennial frontrunners such as Hamilton's Jesse Wiki, Rotorua's Scott Canham and Rangiora's McGoldrick brothers, Isaiah and Micah, should also feature.

Taupo stars Nick Saunders and Brad Groombridge are among those expected to present perhaps the toughest challenge to the strong Pukekohe contingent.