Zealand women’ s motocross team for the upcoming FIM Oceania Women’ s Motocross Cup, to be held in Wongthaggi, Australia, on March 21- 22, is on the line. Several overseas riders, mostly from Japan and Australia, have already signed up to race at Woodville this year and of course they’ ll have high hopes of taking away the main silverware in their carry-on luggage when they leave. But, even with a talented batch of international riders flying in, last season’ s Woodville winner, Mangakino’ s Maximus Purvis, and fellow Kiwi international Josiah Natzke, from Huntly, remain the clear favourites to win the main prize. The long and illustrious list of previous winners includes riders such as Shayne King, the New Plymouth man who was the 1996 500cc motocross world champion, Britain’ s Greg Hanson, Australians Kirk Gibbs and Dean Ferris, American Willie Surratt and Sweden’ s Gunnar Lindstrom, to name a few. To date there have only been 13 multiple( two wins or more) champions at Woodville – Shayne King holding the incredible record as a ninetime senior champion there( between 1992 and 2006). Only one of these multi-time Woodville GP champions is expected to line up to race again in 2026, Papamoa’ s Cody Cooper. Cooper has previously won overall at Woodville on three separate occasions( in 2007, 2014 and 2019), although he currently campaigns a 250cc bike, so not in contention for the premier MX1( 450cc) class trophy. If Purvis wins the MX1 class and Woodville outright again this time around it will be his second overall victory at Woodville and, if Natzke wins, it will be his first. Host Manawatu-Orion Motorcycle Club president Brad Ritchie said it was“ an honour to continue the legacy of top-calibre motocross in New Zealand”, with the Woodville event the first significant such competition ever held here and, as always, being staged on the same plot of farmland that hosted the inaugural running in 1961.

“ We want to again say a big thanks to our sponsors, particularly Blue Wing Honda. We enjoy working alongside the landowner, Tararua District Council and the local community to bring this event to life.

“ The event really does have an international Grand Prix feel about it. The Woodville motocross is a very special occasion for everyone. It always starts the year off with a bang.” Sadly, Tim Gibbes, the former world championship Grand Prix motocross rider who founded the event in 1961, passed away in October 2023, although his legacy does live on. The senior feature race prize has been renamed the Tim Gibbes Memorial Trophy and is the most coveted piece of silverware on offer to the Kiwi motocross racing community.

KIWI RIDER 13