DIRT NEWS
town of Woodville will probably more than double for this one special weekend at the end of this month . More than 600 of New Zealand ’ s elite motocross racers will again flood the region , along with their support crews , families and fans . Now in its 62nd year , the event is obviously a very strong magnet for the nation ’ s dirt biking elite and it is the biggest event on the Kiwi motocross calendar for many reasons . Host Manawatu-Orion Motorcycle Club president Brad Ritchie said he was excited ahead of this year ’ s 62nd running of the event . “ All 62 of the events have been staged on the same farmland property , in the same paddock and our club is now 113 years old . “ We are not locked and loaded yet with all the entries , so I can ’ t comment on possible overseas entrants , but we have so many top Kiwis expected to line up anyway . “ We saw Bay of Plenty rider Levi Townley win the junior motocross world championships last year and then other Kiwis too winning national titles in Australia recently , with Karaka ’ s Hayden Draper , Raetihi ’ s Karaitiana Horne and Townley grabbing the silverware across the Tasman Sea in 2024 . “ Senior riders too have been making waves overseas recently , men such as Tauranga ’ s Josiah Natzke in the Canadian nationals , so we really don ’ t need to look anywhere else but New Zealand for world-class talent .” In addition to offering New Zealand GP titles across several different bike categories , the stand-alone event caters for entrants from as young as four , to senior men and women in their 40s and 50s . There have been 33 different overall winners at Woodville over the past 63 years , but only 12 riders have won there more than once since the inaugural event in 1961 . The most prolific winner in the history of the event has been New Plymouth ’ s Shayne King , with an incredible nine Woodville wins to his credit . His last winning appearance there before retiring was in 2006 , although King ’ s two sons , Curtis and Rian , will again be lining up at this year ’ s Woodville event . Current national MX1 champion Hamish Harwood , from Royal Heights in West Auckland , is the defending Woodville champion and he ’ ll be keen to become a three-time winner this year . Harwood won Woodville outright in 2020 before also winning there again last January , just before going on to win the 2024 New Zealand Motocross Championships in the premier MX1 class . Papamoa ’ s Cody Cooper is a three-time former winner at Woodville – the top man there in 2007 , in 2014 and again in 2019 – and he ’ d also like nothing better than to win it again and join the select group of just five riders so far who have won it three times or more .
Andy McGechan
The event ’ s most prolific winner , Shayne King . This photo is from 1996 .
14 KIWI RIDER