leading the first of Sunday’s three MX1 class races
when he crashed and handed the win to Cooper.
“I actually crashed three times in that race,”
Lamont explained.
“The bike took ages to get going after I crashed
and then I crashed twice more trying to catch up.
I simply salvaged what I could from that,”
Lamont said, eventually settling for 15th place
at the chequered flag.
Lamont finished fourth and fifth in the next two
MX1 races, but his performance in the feature
race would be the key one for the record books.
It was a courageous performance from KTM
rider Hayden Smith. The current national senior
125cc champion from Taihape is still aged
only 16, and still one year short of compulsory
graduation to the seniors ranks, but he lined
up in the senior MX2 class on Sunday.
Smith was keen to take the opportunity to
use the Woodville event to beef up his training
regime ahead of his entry into the Junior
Motocross World Championships in Australian
later this year. Smith finished a creditable
fourth overall in the MX2 class at Woodville.
It was bad luck for Oparau’s James Scott, the
Kiwi Rider-backed KTM rider impressing on both
Saturday and early on Sunday before crashing out
of the final senior 125cc race of the day, breaking
his wrist. He had finished 2-1 in the first two 125cc
races, equalling the points tallied by Altherm JCR
Yamaha Racing Team rider Maximus Purvis (who
went 1-2), but the final race accident meant he had
to settle for only fifth overall, behind Australian
KTM rider Mason Semmens and HLR Husqvarna
Racing Team rider Tommy Watts, of Wairoa.
During the previous day’s junior racing, it was
the turn for the Australian contingent to shine.
Melbourne’s Bailey Malkiewicz (Yamaha) won
the 14-16 years’ 250cc class; Melbourne’s Mason
Semmens (KTM) won the 15-16 years’ 125cc
class; Tauranga’s Brodie Connolly (KTM) won
the 12-14 years’ 125cc class; Australian Brad
West (Kawasaki) won the 13-16 years’ 85cc
class; Pukekawa’s Tyler Brown (KTM) won the
11-12 years’ 85cc class and Christchurch’s Kobe
Thoms (KTM) won the 8-10 years’ 85cc class.
New Plymouth’s Mitch Rowe (Kawasaki) won
what was a new addition to the programme
this year, the vintage MX bike class.
T
HARWOOD “SIMPLY A MACHINE” AT WOODVILLE GP
he gritty display by KTM rider Hamish
Harwood at the 57th annual New Zealand
Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville
prompted one of his rivals to question
afterwards “is this guy a machine or what?”
Even with temperatures hovering close
to 40 degrees Celsius, the now Auckland-based
two-time and current national MX2 (250cc)
champion from Takaka turned on what could only
be described as “a superman performance” during
the Sunday’s senior programme, racing his way into
the podium in both the two premier bike classes.
It was perhaps even more impressive because,
with the heat-wave unrelenting, it was the final
race of the day in each class that Harwood seemed
strongest and where he scored the most success.
Harwood took his KTM 250SX to finish 2-2-
1 in the MX2 (250cc) class and then, riding
a similar KTM 250SX, this bike fitted with a
Hamish Harwood was
a man on a mission