Groombridge afterwards.“ I had a complete shoulder reconstruction and then the COVID-19 pandemic, and various other things too, kept me away from the sport, but I’ m obviously back now,” he laughed.“ To be able to come back and then win the title like this is pretty special. It rained a bit on Saturday and the course became unbelievably slippery. I had a few moments on the hills. There were definitely some close calls and I was in a close battle throughout with Callum [ Dudson ], but I managed to get the job done.”
JUNIOR Te Awamutu rider Nixon Parkes( Yamaha) comfortably won the 90-minute junior race on the Thursday at Gore, finishing ahead of Masterton’ s Harvey Williams( Yamaha) and Eketahuna’ s Sheldon Brown( Yamaha), while the finishing order was changed slightly at round four on Saturday, with Parkes again dominating, but this time Brown finished runner-up, while
Mosgiel’ s Nick Guthrie( KTM) nipped in to claim third overall on the day. After Parkes had also dominated both the earlier rounds in the North Island, his winning run at Gore was easily enough for him to claim the title outright again in 2025.
WOMEN & UNDER-85 Meanwhile, the battle for senior women’ s honours saw Stratford’ s Megan Collins( Husqvarna) press home her points advantage, winning her first national crown at Gore on the Saturday, while best of the veteran grade riders this year were Otorohanga’ s Trevor De Malmanche( Yamaha, 35-44 years), Palmerston North brothers Mark and Jason Amey( both KTM, 45-54 years’ division) and Whanganui’ s Danny Willemsen( Suzuki) over 55 years). Huntly’ s Asher Sattrup( Honda) won the under-85cc class this season and Rotorua’ s Grace Fowler( Husqvarna) topped the junior women’ s standings.
Megan Collins
38 KIWI RIDER