KIWI RIDER 05 2018 VOL.2 | Page 20

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