Mount Maunganui rider Rhys Carter (Suzuki) had his best round of the series at Pukekohe, finishing fourth in MX1 on the day and eighth in the championship. Photos / Greg Henderson Photography
Mount Maunganui rider Rhys Carter (Suzuki) had his best round of the series at Pukekohe, finishing fourth in MX1 on the day and eighth in the championship. Photos / Greg Henderson Photography
Among the reasons for New Zealand's national motocross championship running through February and March is to prepare a handful of the elite riders for international campaigns.
That's certainly the case for all of the 2015 champions - although in one case it means a New Zealand title will reside across the Tasman for the next 12 months.
The four-round nationals were completed on Sunday at the Pukekohe Motorcycle Club's Harrisville facility.
Courtney Duncan was on form at Harrisville and rode her Yamaha to second behind Josiah Natzke in all three of the 125cc races.
Each title went to the final round with a clear leader in charge but three tough motos on the fast and steep terrain of the Harrisville track was set to challenge the riders.
In the end there weren't any last round changes of fortune and three clear winners had been crowned even before the final motos lined up at the start gates.
Hamilton teenager Josiah Natzke was a commanding winner of the 125cc title. He won the title last year at age 15 - the youngest ever senior national champ - and repeated this year with 11 wins from 12 starts in a campaign that saw him build up for a European Championship programme by also riding the MX2 races.
Hamilton's Josiah Natzke (KTM) won the 125cc 2-stroke title for the second year in a row.
Behind the young KTM star there was a battle for second between Yamaha riders Cohen Chase (Taupo) and Courtney Duncan (Palmerston) and Ngatea's Benjamin Broad (KTM).
It was Chase who recovered from a tough third round at Rotorua to climb back to second, just four points ahead of Broad. Duncan showed her best form of the series at Harrisville with a trio of second placings behind Natzke and was only two points behind Broad at the end of the series.
For Australian Yamaha racer Jay Wilson the New Zealand scene continued to be a successful hunting ground. Wilson has twice won New Zealand Supercross titles and now adds the MX2 (250cc) motocross crown to his achievements.
Australian Jay Wilson (Yamaha) continued his winning run in the MX2 class to claim the 2105 title.
It was a dominating performance by Wilson who won 11 out of 12 races and eventually built up a 50-point buffer over the Kiwis scraping for the podium places.
KTM rider Hamish Harwood (Takaka) claimed second overall by a clear margin from Honda rider Micah McGoldrick (Amberley) with a trio of young BOP riders next.
Rotorua's Scotty Canham (Kawasaki), Reporoa's Hadleigh Knight and Te Puke's Logan Blackburn (Suzuki) completed the top six in the 250cc class.
Things were a little tighter in the MX1 class where Honda's defending champion Cody Cooper went into the final round with a 19-point lead as he chased a third consecutive title - and the fourth in the last five years - on the 450cc bikes.
Te Puke's Logan Blackburn (Suzuki) finished his first MX2 championship campaign in sixth overall.
The Papamoa racer was using the nationals as a return from a mid-2014 knee reconstruction ahead of another Australian Championship campaign with Honda.
Cooper made fast starts and had the title wrapped up with a race to spare. He won the first moto while nearest rival Kirk Gibbs (Australia) made a bad start and eventually recovered to seventh.
That extended Cooper's advantage to 30 points and he was happy to follow Gibbs' KTM home in the second moto and clinch the title before taking another second in the final race.
Gibbs claimed the runner-up silverware while Rotorua's John Phillips (Honda) was third and Yamaha's Australian import Kade Mosig took fourth ahead of Taupo's Brad Groombridge (Suzuki).
Cody Cooper (1) made fast starts on his Honda on the way to retaining his MX1 title.
The motocross spotlight now moves to Australia's national series which starts at Horsham, Victoria on March 29 with a 10 round schedule over five months.
