Scott ... there ’ s three or four young guys right there who could put New Zealand on the podium once again . There are a few riders back here in New Zealand too , who possibly haven ’ t yet gone overseas , who could give it a go ,” said King .
ADVICE FOR NZ ’ S FUTURE STARS And there ’ s still the likes of rising stars Levi Townley and Nico Verhoeven , who could well be in the mix in the near future . At the time of this interview , these Kiwi rising stars had not yet raced the 2024 Junior Motocross World Championships , where they were to eventually finish first and second respectively in their classes . “ It ’ s important to do the little trips away to places like Australia first because it ’ s a big step heading straight to Europe or the United States ,” King said . “ I remember my first trip to Tahiti as a 16-year-old . I got there a day before my dad flew over and I was homesick to the max . “ I think the golden rule is just to bite the bullet and leave New Zealand , make sure you ’ re on a good bike , make sure you ’ re fit when you leave and make sure you ’ re ready . Just piece all those things together first , but that can sometimes be tricky too . “ You can still do the extra work and put in all those extra hours on the track , but then you get an injury and you ’ ve got to start again . Kiwis are a special breed because we just want to make things happen . A lot of kids have been brought up on a farm . “ We didn ’ t have the internet when we were growing up , so we were just out on the farm riding all the time . We worked hard on the farm
too , pulling thistles or burying dead sheep , and that made us tough . Kids can head off in the wrong direction these days by spending too much time watching tv . “ Walking the track before racing is very important and perhaps kids these days don ’ t do that enough . Daryl Hurley was great back in the day when he ’ d head out on a track walk . I go and give the track a peek all the time too , to see how it ’ s changing and how ruts and berms are developing . “ I ’ ll spend a bit of time before each race just
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