By virtue of the fact that New Zealand only has a total population numbering about five million and that the sport of motocross is very much a minority sport in our rugby-mad nation – in which , weirdly , rugby is not even the highest-participation sport ( rugby is fourth and netball is actually No . 1 ) – and you can see that it must be extremely difficult for a New Zealander to even be considered a worldclass motocross racer , let alone be recognised for it outside of the small motocross community itself . But ranking among those exceptional men is a now a virtually-retired racer who , in his heyday , was not only a multi-time Team New Zealand rider at the Motocross of Nations ( MXoN ), but a Kiwi pioneer and a true world beater ... Taranaki native Darryll King . The twice former 500cc world No . 2 ( on a Husqvarna in 1997 and again on a Husqvarna in 1998 ) and one-time 500cc world No . 3 ( on a Kawasaki in 1995 ) raced for New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations , the “ Olympic Games of motocross ”, a staggering nine times in total . This incredible statistic is shaded only by