Bike Throttles Were Pinned To The Stop At Timaru

The 2024 edition of the annual New Zealand Motocross TT Nationals near Timaru at the weekend was a roaring success.

The Timaru Yamaha-sponsored two-day spectacle was hosted by the South Canterbury Motorcycle Club and it mostly attracted motorcycling talent from the South Island, although there were several key North Island entries, riders coming from as far away as Pukekawa, in the Waikato, from Cooks Beach, near Whitianga, from Tuakau, near Pukekohe, and from Tauranga.

The rolling grassland venue was at Otaio, Saint Andrews, just a few kilometres south of Timaru, and the racing was, as always, of the full-throttle and no-backing-off variety.

Winner of the premier senior MX1 class at the weekend was Winton’s Jack Symon, with Christchurch’s Justin McDonald finishing runner-up, while Mason Wilkie, from Swannanoa, west of Kaiapoi, claimed the third podium position.

It was double glory for Symon too, who rode a smaller capacity version of his Honda to also win the MX2 (250cc) class, this time finishing ahead of Invercargill’s Ryan Harris and Timaru’s Kolby Brookland.

Double class winner Symon, a 19-year-old builder from Winton, near Invercargill, was naturally thrilled with his wins.

“I’d been practising on a 450cc bike and so I thought I’d dabble in this class,” he said. “I surprised myself when I finished second (behind McDonald) in the first MX1 race of the weekend, so I just decided to carry on with it.

“The track was pretty slippery, like skating on an ice rink to start with, but I found some good race lines and it worked out for me in the end.

“A shower of rain then dampened things down, but I managed to stay on two wheels.”

Other class winners at the weekend were Cheviot’s Dylan Huddleston (senior 125cc class); Tuakau’s Craig Brown (veterans, over-40 years); Nelson’s Milla Dahlenburg (junior women, 12-16 years’ 125cc/250cc); Timaru’s William Rogers (junior 14-16 years’ 250cc class); Cheviot’s Dylan Huddleston (junior 12-16 years’ 125cc class); Ashburton’s Harvey Copland (12-16 years’ 85cc/150cc class); Waimate’s Nicholas Oakshott (8-11 years’ 85cc/150cc class); Tapanui’s Jaxon Goble (Mini 7-11 years 65cc class); Tapanui’s Lucas Ferguson (Mini 7-11 years trail bike class); Cooks Beach’s Harlen Shore (Mini 6-8 years 50cc class); Rangiora’s Addison Taylor (Mini 4-7 years 50cc class).

“It was an awesome weekend,” said South Canterbury Motorcycle Club president Clayton Lucas.

“We had a bit of rain on Friday night, so some of the competitors needed to be towed into the track … and we towed a few out again at the end of the weekend too.

“But over both days of racing, Saturday and Sunday, the track improved markedly, and the conditions were perfect really in the end.

“There was a great family atmosphere throughout at the weekend and we received a lot of positive feedback.”

In addition to Timaru Yamaha, the event is sponsored by One 22 Designs, Fabtech Engineering Solutions, Central Insurance, Corporate Print, Lucas Contracting 2007 Ltd, JA Harrex Mechanical, PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Graeme Richardt Motors, Heartland Steel, Solve Physio, Bidfood Timaru, Geeves Scaffolding, Ground Up Safety and Euro Ag.

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

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