certainly earned their titles . “ The tricky conditions really did sort them out . The brief rain we experienced really did only serve to keep the dust down .” With a large entry list of more than 160 young riders , the racing was certainly intense at the weekend , showing that the sport is extremely healthy at this grassroots level . Racing at Taranaki at the weekend shone the spotlight on the next Kiwi international superstars , young riders who may go on to follow in the wheel tracks of world class New Zealand riders such as Otago ’ s Courtney Duncan , New Plymouth brothers Darryll , Shayne and Damien King , Motueka ’ s Josh Coppins , Oparau ’ s James Scott , Opotiki ’ s Cody Cooper
and West Auckland ’ s Hamish Harwood or Tauranga trio Ben Townley , Brodie Connolly and Josiah Natzke , for example .
It ’ s interesting to note that Harwood , Connolly and Natzke were that same weekend overseas and representing New Zealand at the big annual Motocross of Nations ( MXoN ) in England , the pinnacle of senior racing at international level . This could also be where we see a few of the 2024 New Zealand mini motocross champions , riders such as Whibley , Wilson , Kawerau ’ s Cameron Travers , Te Awamutu ’ s Reed Legg , Kawerau ’ s Rocky Gibbs or Te Awamutu ’ s Jett Richmond , for example , appearing in Kiwi colours as senior riders at the MXoN in the
Reed Legg
Kylie Dorr Brad Groombridge
Kobe Manase
Ali Warsi
Reed Robinson
46 KIWI RIDER