The start of the seniors race
James Scott was the winner on the day ...
... followed by Tommy Watts
A
larger-than-normal turnout of riders ensured it was always going to be a frantic battle for honours and it was a high calibre field of riders who turned up on farmland near Marton on the last weekend of February for this first of four rounds in the Yamaha-sponsored series .
And , fresh from racing at the OtoroHonda KC Honda-sponsored Waikato Motocross Championships the previous week , Oparau ’ s James Scott was in a mood to make up for his disappointments from that day – where the national MX2 No . 2 failed to make the podium – by getting his next title bid off to a better start .
He switched from his trusty Honda CRF250R motocrosser , to instead ride one of the new Honda CRF450RX enduro bikes to the start line at Marton . The 20-year-old South Waikato sheep and beef farm worker led the gruelling threehour senior race virtually from start to finish , eclipsing Wairoa ’ s defending national crosscountry champion Tommy Watts ( Yamaha ) and last year ’ s junior XC champion Wil Yeoman ( Yamaha ), from Taupo , in the six-lap affair . Scott took the chequered flag by just over a minute ahead of Watts and he finished two minutes ahead of third-placed rider Yeoman .
26 KIWI RIDER