Mikayla Chasing No.! Plate

Mikayla Chasing No.! Plate

NOVEMBER 28, 2013: She has the No.2 proudly displayed on her Yamaha motocross bike, but Taranaki’s Mikayla Rowe is determined to swap that for the No.1 plate this weekend.

Budget constraints meant the 15-year-old New Plymouth girl had to skip the New Zealand Women’s and Veterans’ Motocross Championships when they were staged in the South Island last season, but she is all packed and ready to race at the 2013 edition near Te Awamutu this Saturday and Sunday and she’s brimming with confidence.

She rode her 2011-model Yamaha YZ125 to finish runner-up, behind fellow Yamaha ace Sarah Elwin, of Taihape, at the New Zealand TT Championships at Te Kanau in July, she these two riders will be in different classes at the women’s national this weekend, giving Rowe even more reason to fancy her chances of winning.

“I race in the junior class while Sarah (Elwin) will be in the senior women’s grade (for riders aged 17 to 29 years), so I won’t have to worry about her,” Rowe explained.

“But it will still be tough for me to win. Opunake’s Taylar Rampton is in the junior women’s class and she usually beats me in races around the Taranaki region. Put it this way, she’s generally in front of me.

“But I have been training a bit so, fingers crossed, I can put it all together this weekend,” said Rowe, who is supported in her campaign by Ideal Buildings, BikesportNZ.com and Alpinestars.

Rowe’s father, former national 500cc champion Mitch Rowe, should be one of the riders to feature in the veterans’ side of the weekend’s programme.

The venue for racing this weekend is at Phil and Julia Empson's property, Tiki Road, Kihikihi, Te Awamutu.

The two-day annual event features many men who, despite their veteran status, still rate among the sport's elite. The female side of the sport that shares the programme is more a hotbed for rising stars and many of these women are more than capable of humbling the men and boys at mixed events too.

Former Grand Prix riders such as Yamaha’s two-time former world No.2 and 2012 world veteran’s champion Darryll King, of Hamilton, and former veterans' world champion Tony Cooksley (Yamaha), of Auckland, will no doubt be among the favourites to win among the veterans this Saturday and Sunday.

Blenheim's Moston Wadsworth and Taupo trio Geoffrey Hall, Rodney Tomblin and Bevan Weal should also feature.

Rangiora's Kimberley Murphy was 17-29 years' women's champion last season and heavily favoured to win again this time around, although she will have her work cut out repelling riders such as Elwin and Bombay's Courtney Lindsay to deal with.

Other title contenders in the women’s classes include Taupo's Katrina Lee and Otorohanga's Nikita Mudford.

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