| 2010 Auckland Champs - Oceania | ||||
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While numbers where down for the first day of the Auckland Champs, it didn’t seem to worry to many as we had 15 very fast Aussies show up to get some practice in for Oceania. The Vets class was as usual the Darryl King show, and DK put on a great show winning 3 from 3. Local man Craig Brown put up a fight but just couldn’t seem to do hold off Dk for an entire race. 3rd was the ever consistent Tony Cooksley. The 8-10 85cc class was won by Claude Griffith who went 1-1-1 but as this class was in with the 65cc riders he was actually a lot further back in the pack. The 65 starting to show what potential they really have. Wyatt Chase was 2nd after returning from an extended break from racing, and 3rd was unknown Jack Casey Loughnane. The 8-11 65cc class was Alphabet soup up front as it was Aussie Aussie Aussie all the way. The Aussie riders out classing all the kiwi riders with ease, taking the 5 of the 6 top spots. Jordan Hill won it by 3 points over Mitch Evans, with Jordan lucky to even start the final race after a tyre malfunction that nearly caused him a DNS. 3rd was Queenslander Hunter Lawrence with Jackson Williams, another Aussie in 4th. The Aussies were in a class of their own as they pulled away from the field convincingly. Good numbers in the 15-16 125cc class saw some of the best racing of the day as the locals tried not to be shown up by the visiting Australians. However when it was all over, Aussie Errol Willis had the win over Kayne Lamont, who had a shocking 3rd moto and found him off the side of the track in a bush. Broc Martens was in the hunt but couldn’t quite make anything happen finishing 4th behind Isaiah McGoldrick. It was once again an all Australian show in the 4 stroke class as Matt Phillips made it look easy taking 3 from 3 wins. Kale Makeham was second and was a definite underdog but rode with consistency to beat Jason Reed by 1 point who took 3rd. The 13-16 85cc class was an all kiwi affair as kiwis took the top 3 places with Mainlanders taking the top 2 spots in Micah McGoldrick and Courtney Duncan. These 2 checked out from the rest of the field and pout on an awesome display of racing. 3rd was local Chase Smith who after a long absence with injury returned to the podium with a solid ride. The 12-14 125cc class was well down on entries with only 8 riders entering. Brandon Tipene had the measure of Dion Picard winning 3 from 3. Hamish Harwood was a distant 3rd with Cameron Vaughn making a good debut on his YZ125 for 4th place. The 11-12 85cc class was great racing with Cameron Forlong taking the win over South Island’s Dylan Walsh and Joel Meikle. The racing in this class was fantastic as there were lead changes in every race, with plenty of bar banging and aggressive but clean passing. A great start to the weekend, with the Aussies getting the hang of the track fairly quickly, leaving a big question mark for Sunday on who will do well. The dawning of Sunday brought with it a much wetter track and a definite sense of anticipation. Was it the return of Luke Burkhart on an RMZ250 or the knowledge of Damien King’s last ride on a 125cc to se if he could go out on top? Maybe it was the fact that there was about to be a trans-Tasman showdown with both nations fastest junior riders. The seniors took to the track and the MX1 class was up first. With reigning National Champion Justin McDonald making the trip up, the racing was sure to be good. However it was Darryl King with the rule of the roost taking the win for the weekend over a revitalised Mason Philips. No one was quite sure what had come over Philips but he was riding high on a wave of confidence after winning his SX championship just a few weeks ago. While Mason won the 2nd and 3rd moto over DK, a very average first moto could only give him enough points to muster 2nd place. McDonald rode worse as the day went on, went from 2nd to 3rd to 4th but still held onto the top spot of the podium. The MX2 class belonged to Mikey P but the double classing Darryl King and revitalised Luke Burkhart weren’t going to make it easy for him. Philips would win the day, sealing the deal with a win in the last moto, to secure the overall of King. 3rd was an under the radar Ethan Martens, who never really stood out all day, but did what was required to get results. National 125 and James Ainsworth tried valiantly to beat Damien King but was just unable to do it. King then announced at prize giving he was stepping down from the 125 class. 3rd was Callum Moore who rode a very strong last race to edge out Roydon White for the last spot on the podium. As for Oceania, the Aussies may have won the war but the kiwis definitely won some battles. Highlights were watching Micah McGoldrick and Courtney Duncan pull away from the field in the 85cc class, and John Philips ride 2 consistent races to take 2nd in the Lites class. The let down for the Kiwi side was the 65cc team but this was to be expected as the Aussies where far more prepared than the Kiwis could possibly have managed, simply out classing them everytime they hit the track. All in all a fantastic weekend with a superb track and some of the best racing that has been round Auckland MX tracks in quite sometime.
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Crackle.