Taupo's Cohen Chase says he's excited to be competing at the Junior Motocross World Championships in Belgium. Photos / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Taupo's Cohen Chase says he's excited to be competing at the Junior Motocross World Championships in Belgium. Photos / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
New riders step up to fill the void, says Andy McGechan
Perhaps the New Zealand national anthem can again ring out at a motocross track in Europe this year.
New Zealand motocross riders have for long had a solid reputation on the world stage, thanks mainly to the world championship careers of riders such as Taranaki's King brothers, Darryll and Shayne, Motueka's Josh Coppins and Taupo's Ben Townley, each of whom have stepped on to the podium at the ultimate level of the sport in the past decade or so.
With the retirement of these legends, the appearance of New Zealand riders in Europe has been infrequent over the past couple of seasons.
But that may be about to change, with a handful of the younger generation of Kiwis stepping up to fill the void, starting with this year's edition of the annual Junior Motocross World Championships, this season set for Bastogne, in Belgium, on August 10.
National junior 250cc champion Cohen Chase, from Taupo, has announced that he would be packing his helmet and boots for the big event in Belgium and, with backing from Yamaha in New Zealand, the teenager feels confident that he can challenge for a world title.
The BikesportNZ.com-backed rider said it was "going to be huge".
"I am very excited. I really can't wait," said the 16-year-old, a year 11 pupil at Taupo's Tauhara College.
"I have had some wonderful support from Yamaha and my other sponsors too and nobody is putting any pressure on me. I don't know anything yet about the other riders I may be facing but I have done a bit of homework on the track.
"I've had a look at it on YouTube and it seems quite similar to the motocross track at Timaru and I liked that when I rode there in February." Chase typically races the Yamaha YZ250F four-stroke bike in his domestic campaigns at home, but he will be racing a Yamaha YZ125 two-stroke in Belgium.
"That's just the format for that event. I've been riding a lot on the YZ125 lately and I love it, so I'm feeling quite confident."
Chase's mother, Angela, agreed it would be a great stepping stone for him. "Cohen has been given an amazing opportunity to race amongst the world's best," she said. "It will be a fantastic way to sponge up the atmosphere and to experience first-hand the Mecca of the motocross world overseas.
"It's a nice way for him to finish off his junior racing career before coming home to be full senior and then race the under 19-years' class in Australia.
"We leave on July 21 and fly to the United Kingdom, where we will be met by [New Zealand-managed race team] Dirt Bike Gym. From there we will drive through to Belgium to collect Cohen's race bike from the Kamea Yamaha head office and do some bike testing before the World Juniors.
"We would also like to thank our sponsors ... FOX, Total Oil and Goldentyres who have product ready and waiting for us in the UK and we thank the public too, who have hugely contributed towards making this happen with the purchase of raffle tickets and by making donations."
Cohen Chase.
Chase is no stranger to tough international competition, having raced with great success in New Caledonia and in Australia in recent years. He finished fourth overall in the junior 250cc nationals across the Tasman earlier this season, missing out on a podium spot by just one point.
"Regardless of what happens in Belgium in August, I want to end up racing professionally in Europe, just the same as Altherm JCR Yamaha Team manager Josh Coppins did in his day," he says.
Chase will not be alone in waving the silver fern flag at this event - he joins fellow Kiwi Josiah Natzke, the young Hamilton rider who in May revealed his intention to tackle the world championships, the pair now forming a strong two-pronged Kiwi assault.
The 15-year-old Natzke (who rides for the CMR Red Bull KTM team in New Zealand) made New Zealand motocross history this season when he became the youngest rider ever to win the senior national 125cc title, wrapping up the title at the final round in Taupo in March.
