“ The new 2021 bike arrives in a few weeks and I ’ ll be riding a lot more frequently than I have been lately . The nationals are not too far away now ... bring it on .” Harwood also drew great praise and confidence from the equal-first finish being achieved so early in the season . With “ more work to do ” before the national championship series , national MX1 No . 3 Harwood has shown he will be a serious title contender again in 2021 . “ I actually felt a little bit off today ,” Harwood confided . “ I didn ’ t feel I could be as aggressive as I ’ d have liked . All in all , though , I ’ m happy . It ’ s a new bike and I ’ m getting used to it still . I wasn ’ t being too cautious ... I was just trying to ride smart . “ I ’ ll just keep up my training now . I ’ m not at 100 percent full fitness yet , but I ’ m in a good position for this early in the season .”

MX2 Meanwhile , with four wins from four starts against his MX2 rivals , Natzke dominated the

250cc racing , finishing the day a whopping 15 points clear of his nearest threat , current national MX2 champion Maximus Purvis ( Yamaha ), from Mangakino . “ My first two races were pretty smooth sailing ,” said Natzke . “ I got two holeshots and two comfortable wins . I ’ m in a great position now in terms of my build-up for the nationals , probably better than where my rivals are right now to be honest . It could be a different story in March . “ In my third race I messed up the start and had to fight through to the front . I was behind ( Oparau ’ s ) James Scott ( Honda ) and Maximus Purvis . Scott was leading , but he fell off and then Purvis crashed too and the win kind of fell into my lap . “ The bike is great and I ’ m feeling confident right now . I can ’ t wait for the nationals .” Purvis finished overall runner-up , with Connolly third , while Hamilton ’ s Seton Head ( Kawasaki ) impressed by taking his Kawasaki KX250F to fourth overall , probably his best result at this level of competition .

30 KIWI RIDER