King Remains on His Throne

King Remains on His Throne

MARCH 19, 2012: Waikato’s Darryll King has done it again.

The 43-year-old showed the mark of a champion when he successfully defended his national MX2 (250cc) crown at the fourth and final round of this year’s New Zealand Motocross Championships in Taupo on Sunday.

Former world No.2 King looked as though he might have had a fight on his hands as he started the day just one point ahead of his nearest rival for the title, fellow Kiwi international Scott Columb, of Queenstown.

But when King won the first race of the day – while Columb managed only eighth – a lot of the pressure had suddenly evaporated.

King then wrapped up the day with 3-1 results, comfortably defending his crown.

“The day was perfect for me in the end,” said Hamilton’s King afterwards.

“The bike was great, my mechanic was fantastic. I planned to come here and ride strong to keep the title and that’s what I did.”

King’s team-mates also stood out at the weekend, MX1 class rider Josh Coppins, of Motueka, claiming the No.2 spot in the class, behind fellow Kiwi international Ben Townley.

“The national series was a good build-up for me as I now head across the Tasman in a couple of weeks for the start of the Australian Motocross Championships,” said Coppins.

“It was a tough day for me here today. In the first race I had a bad start and had to work my way through traffic to finish third, while in the second race I got a flat front tyre and crashed, hurting my shoulder. It was just a matter of me riding to survive after that.”

In the 125cc and under-21 year’s dual-title division, Amberley’s Micah McGoldrick won both titles ahead of Yamaha pair Cameron Vaughan (MXDK Yamaha YZ125), of Rotorua, and Logan Blackburn (BikesportNZ.com Yamaha YZ125), of Tauranga.

Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

ENDS

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