Kiwi KTM Hero Has His Sights Set on World Title

KIWI KTM HERO HAS HIS SIGHTS SET ON WORLD TITLE

AUGUST 1, 2018: Kiwi high-flier James Scott is among New Zealand's best title hopes for the upcoming FIM Junior Motocross World Championships in Australia.

The 16-year-old from Oparau, near Kawhia, the 2016 New Zealand junior motocross champion in the 13-16 years 85cc class, has been turning heads in Europe this season where he is racing the European 125cc Motocross Championships (EMX125).

And he is excited about being able to shows his skills closer to home when the FIM Junior Motocross World Championships blast off at Horsham, north-west of Melbourne, on the weekend of August 25-26.

The young KTM rider finished runner-up to Mangakino's Maximus Purvis in the 15-16 years' 125cc class at the 2017 New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships and, although injured at the start of this year, he was quick to recover and is now starting to make an impression in Europe.

The broken arm he suffered at the big annual Woodville motocross in late January meant Scott was forced to skip the first two of eight rounds of the 2018 EMX125 series but he has been catching up lost ground.

Currently based in the town of Balen, east of the Belgian city of Antwerp, Scott managed to finish fourth overall at the latest round of the EMX125 series, round five in France last month.

He took his F4E Racing Team KTM 125SX bike to twice finish fifth at the steep circuit at St Jean d'Angely, near Cognac, and lifted himself to 21st overall in the title chase, despite having contested just three of the five rounds thus far.

"Everything has been pretty good over here in the past weeks. The team and I have been doing the hard yards at the moment, although my last few races haven't shown it," he said, the tough teenager perhaps his own harshest critic.

"It would have been better if I hadn't crashed. I hope the next EMX125 rounds (set for Belgium, Switzerland and The Netherlands respectively) will be good for me.

"My riding has improved a lot in the past two months of riding in sand, which is going to make me very bike fit for when I come back to Horsham.

"I expect at least a podium there (at Horsham), but I want to win. KTM in Australia will be supplying me with a bike.

"I haven’t raced the Junior Worlds before, but I don’t think it is going to be any bigger than a motocross GP and I have raced a few of them now," he laughed.

Other New Zealand riders entered in the premier 125cc class at the FIM Junior Motocross World Championships in Australia are Taihape's Hayden Smith, Tauranga's Brodie Connolly and Rongotea's Zac Jillings.

Kiwis entered in the 85cc class are Rongotea's Rhys Jillings, Rangiora's Cobie Bourke, Darfield's Tyler Wiremu and Rongotea's Seth Henson. Kiwis set to line up in the 65cc class at Horsham are Waitoki's Cole Davies, Palmerston North's Lachlan Barr, Cambridge's Harrison Findlay and Nelson's William Harvey.

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