TOWN OF WOODVILLE TO BECOME CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

Perhaps New Zealand has its own Field Of Dreams and from the Hollywood film of that name came the phrase : “ Build it and they will come ...” And that ’ s just what Palmerston North ’ s Tim Gibbes did more than 60 years ago when he organised the first New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville . So come they did ... leading riders from Sweden , Denmark , England , Scotland , Germany , Belgium , Switzerland , Japan , the United States , New Caledonia and Australia , for example , have raced on the rolling grass farmland circuit , at the northern end of the Manawatu Gorge , over the past six decades . Since the stand-alone event was first staged in 1961 , the big annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville has grown to become the jewel in New Zealand ’ s motocross crown and the 2025 edition is coming up in just three weeks ’ time , on the weekend of January 25-26 . The Honda-sponsored extravaganza continues to rank as the country ’ s No . 1 dirt bike event . Indeed , the population of the small Tararua