Debut Husqvarna Ride a Sensation

Debut Husqvarna Ride a Sensation

by Andy McGechan | www.BikesportNZ.com
January 27, 2014

Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont came out of nowhere to shock the MX2 (250cc) field at the weekend’s 53rd annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville.

On the comeback from injury, still recovering from surgery and on an untested new motorcycle, the 20-year-old stunned the large crowd at Woodville when he set fastest qualifying time ahead of all the country’s elite MX2 riders, including Queenstown’s national MX2 champion Scott Columb, as well as a contingent of talented riders from overseas.

Now riding for the newly-formed Husqvarna Red Bull New Zealand Racing Team – with his father Stu Lamont as team manager – the multi-time former national junior motocross champion said he was still physically a long way from his best and work was still needed to properly set up the bike, having only collected the new TC250 model machine less than a week ago.

But that sort of news could only further dampen the spirits of his rivals, his competitors no doubt already reeling after Lamont’s impressive performance on Sunday.

The BikesportNZ.com-supported rider easily won the day in the MX2 class, scoring 1-3-2 results, giving up the lead and them easing back in the day’s final race to ensure the title was safe.

The winner of that final race, fellow Kiwi international Columb, had endured a miserable day and Lamont knew he didn’t need to get tangled in a scrap with him to clinch the overall victory.

“That’s the sort of maturity that Kayne developed when racing in Australia. You don’t need to win every race to win a title,” said an overjoyed Stu Lamont immediately afterwards.

It was Rotorua's John Phillips who eventually finished overall runner-up in the class to Lamont, with Dargaville's Hamish Dobbyn taking the third step on the podium.

Phillips finished 5-1-5 in his three MX2 outings and ended the day 10 points adrift of Lamont.

Lamont also took one of the new Husqvarna Red Bull New Zealand Racing Team bikes to win the stand-alone Roddy Shirriffs Memorial race, for riders aged under-22 years, this time winning ahead of New Caledonian visitor Laurent Fath.

Lamont has learned much over the past few years, having raced in England, Belgium, Germany and Australia – winning the under-19 Development Motocross title across the Tasman in 2012 – and he will take that experience with him when he heads into battle in the MX2 class at the 2014 New Zealand Motocross Championships, which kick off near Timaru in less than two weeks’ time (on February 8).

Lamont’s new Husqvarna Red Bull New Zealand team-mate, visiting British rider Rob Holyoake, was hampered by a wrist injury, but, with ice treatment to ease the swelling between races, he managed to take his Husqvarna TC125 and finish seventh overall in the 125cc class.

Another rider on one of the new Husqvarna bikes, Opunake’s Taylar Rampton, dominated the women’s class at Woodville, taking her TC125 to a hat-trick of wins.

ENDS

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