Mangakino's Kayne Lamont will be pondering what might have been
after he produced a motocross master class in Rotorua at the
weekend.
Racing at the third round of four in the 2016 New Zealand
Motocross Championships at Horohoro, just outside Rotorua, the
Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team rider was simply untouchable, racing
his way to a hat-trick of wins in the hotly-contested MX2 (250cc)
class.
If he had not crashed and knocked his head at the previous round
in the Manawatu a fortnight earlier, forcing him to the sidelines
and rendering him unable to score in two of that day's three races,
Lamont could well be considered the title favourite.
As it is, Lamont's performance at Rotorua on Sunday saw him leap
from eighth equal to fourth in the standings, albeit still a
whopping 48 points adrift of Takaka's series leader Hamish
Harwood.
With two non-point-scoring races in the nine races thus far,
Lamont's position in the championship standings is still
remarkable, although his realistic goal now is simply to nudge his
way into the top three and therefore onto the final championship
podium.
To do that, the 22-year-old Lamont will need to catch and
overtake his Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing team-mate Ethan Martens,
who, like Lamont, is also a former national champion, and that will
not be an easy task with Waitakere rider Martens also in top
form.
Lamont is 14 points behind Martens.
It was a Yamaha 1-2-3 in the MX2 class on Sunday with Australian
visitor Jed Beaton (Triple B Valley Fresh Yamaha YZ250F) finishing
overall runner-up to Lamont, with Martens taking the third step on
the podium.
Beaton is second in the championship standings, 13 points behind
Harwood.
"I was only cleared (by medical staff) to race on
Tuesday after taking that knock to my head at round two," Lamont
explained.
"I rode the bike on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to
prepare for the weekend and it all came together of me on
Sunday.
"The track was brutal and, if you made a mistake, it
would hammer you. Fortunately I didn't make any mistakes. I have
been suffering from a terrible cold all week too and I was really
hurting in the last race.
"I'll just go now to the final round in Taupo next
weekend and hope I can do this all again and see what it brings in
terms of a final championship ranking."
Meanwhile, the defending champion in the MX1 class, Mount
Maunganui's Cody Cooper, came on strong at Rotorua to snatch the
points lead away from Lamont's luckless Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing
team-mate from the Gold Coast, Dean Ferris, and Cooper now enjoys a
three-point advantage over another Australian, Todd Waters, as they
head to the final round.
Ferris had led the class after rounds one and two, but a
succession of crashes at Rotorua on Sunday saw him bleed points at
an alarming rate.
Ferris is now third overall, two points behind fellow Australian
Waters, but, with 75 points on offer at the final round next
weekend, he remains a very strong contender for the outright
win.
In the 125cc class, Ngatea's Ben Broad remains the championship
leader, but his advantage over Taupo Yamaha rider Wyatt Chase has
been trimmed from 28 points to 23 after Chase won the day at
Rotorua, posting a 1-2-1 score-card.
The fourth and final round of the series is set for the Digger
McEwen Motocross Park facility, on the outskirts of Taupo, on
Sunday (March 20).
The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing team is supported by Altherm
Window Systems, Yamaha, JCR, CRC, Ados, GYTR, Yamalube, Fox Racing,
Hollands Collision Centre, Star Moving, Ward Demolition, Fulton
Hogan, Pirelli, FMF, DID, NGK, Matrix, Renthal, Motomuck, Workshop
Graphics, Motoseat, Hammerhead, SKF, Vertex Pistons, Rtech
Plastics, Etnies, Biketranz and Fulton Hogan.
Credits:
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com