Dylan Ball created history at the weekend
when he became the youngest rider to win
the NZ Trials Champs in the premier division
TEENAGER
BALL CLINCHES
TOP NZ TRIALS
TROPHY
P
orirua’s Dylan Ball created history at the
weekend when he became the youngest
rider to win the New Zealand Trials
Championships in the premier division.
The just-turned 15-year-old won the Expert
Grade at the AdrenalinR Mufflers-sponsored
three-day contest in Hawke’s Bay over Labour
Weekend, the annual event wrapping up on
Monday.
Tauranga’s Stefan Merriman won the same title
as a 16-year-old in 1989, before he went on to
win the junior world title that same year.
Ball could also become a world champion if he
keeps the momentum going. He has already
experienced competition overseas, tackling
the 125cc class at the world championships in
Europe and Japan earlier this year, finishing
eighth overall out of 20 riders.
Ball, a year 10 pupil at Whitby Collegiate,
98 KIWI RIDER
also won the Junior Grade at the weekend,
edging out Hunterville’s Hannah Rushworth,
while Rushworth herself did grab a national
title, winning the Women’s Grade ahead of
Wellington’s Isla Davis and Christchurch’s Evie
Hubbard.
But most focus for Ball was on the premier
grade and there he proved unstoppable, clearly
winning all three days, out-scoring Christchurch’s
Jules Huguenin and Taranaki’s Matt Foster.
Australian visitor Kevin Zarcynski won the New
Zealand Experts Grade title last year, but he was
a no-show this time around.
“The course was right up my alley,” said Ball. “It
was mostly steep rocks and that’s a challenge I
enjoy. I didn’t drop too many points all weekend.
“I knew Jules (Huguenin) and Matt (Foster) were
riding pretty well, but I just concentrated on
doing my own thing.