Story: Andy McGechan
A
uckland’s Liam Draper doesn’t like to
muck around and these days he also
likes to do things at full throttle.
The 23-year-old from Howick started his
motorcycling career on a trials bike, mastering
the techniques of fine throttle control, riding
over steep rocks and balancing the bike at slow
speeds, until he switched over to high-speed
cross-country racing just a few years ago.
He immediately made an impact in his new
sporting passion and the KTM rider now ranks
among the best cross-country racers in the world.
Draper was briefly back in New Zealand following
a thrilling season of cross-country racing in
the United States, home to spend a little time
with family and friends over Christmas before
he jets back to his Pennsylvania base to begin
preparations for his 2020 Grand National Cross-
country Championships (GNCC) campaign there.
He wound up his 2019 season in the US with a
GNCC ranking of fifth in the XC2 (250cc) class,
14 KIWI RIDER
DRAPER WINS
DEAD TOAD
XC RACE FOR
A FOURTH TIME
Howick’s Liam Draper (KTM 450SFX), with his
second big win at home in as many weeks
four places better than the ranking he achieved
on debut there last year. He also won the AMA
National Enduro Championships in the Pro2
class, a separate US series over 10 rounds.
But he knows the 2020 season in America
will be upon him before he knows it and
so has been wasting no time during his
“off-season holiday” in New Zealand.
Typically racing a 250cc bike, Draper marked his
debut ride on a 450cc model KTM at the third
and final round of the Dirt Guide Cross-country
Series near Tokoroa in late November, winning that
two-hour race comfortably ahead of a veritable
“Who’s Who” of New Zealand cross-country talent.
Then, just a week later, he backed that up
by winning the big annual Dead Toad cross-
country race in the Riverhead Forest, west of
Auckland, although the victory on this occasion
was slightly less comfortable for him.
Draper took his 2020-model KTM 450SXF into
the lead immediately after the start and quickly