B
ay of Plenty’s Brad Groombridge is
hoping his latest dirt biking success might
propel him onto the international stage.
The 27-year-old Taupo locksmith wrapped
up the New Zealand Cross-country
Championships title near Mosgiel on May
12, a runner-up finish at this fourth and final round
was easily enough to see him make it three national
cross-country titles in a row. And now the Suzuki
rider is looking abroad for some “bigger fish to fry”.
“I’m making plans now to contest the Grand
National Cross-country Championships
(GNCC) in the United States next year. It’s a
possibility anyway,” said Groombridge.
“I’m hoping to go over and ‘dip my toes
in the water’ at the final three rounds of
that series this year, just to see how I’d
go against riders of that calibre.
“I might be able to arrange to do a few
desert races too, perhaps the famous Finke
desert race in Australia, the race going
from Alice Springs to Finke and back again.
Plans are in progress for me to do that.”
Groombridge has certainly proven
himself the man to beat in New Zealand
these past couple of seasons.
He took a Suzuki RM-Z450 to finish fifth in
the MX1 class at the motocross nationals in
2016 and he rode a Suzuki RM-Z250 to claim
overall runner-up in the MX2 (250cc) class
in the motocross nationals this season.
Groombridge raced his 450cc Suzuki to win the
New Zealand Enduro Championships in his “first
serious attempt” in 2016 and won his first national
cross-country crown that year as well, then backed
that up by defending his cross-country title in 2017.
And now, after the weekend’s effort, it’s three
successive national cross-country titles.
He had arrived at the venue for the fourth and
final round of the 2018 New Zealand Cross Country
Championships series as the clear favourite, his 1-1-
9 score-card from the earlier three rounds giving
him a mathematical advantage over his nearest
rival, fellow Taupo man Nathan Tesselaar (4-3-1).
Results from only three of the series’ four rounds
would be counted, with riders to discard their
one worst result, so theoretically Groombridge
was 1-1 after he’d discarded his ninth placing
from round three, that uncharacteristic result
only because he ran out of fuel that day.
20 KIWI RIDER
GROOMB
XC TITLE