KEY POINTS:
The first major motocross meeting of the season starts today at Palmerston North with the New Zealand Veteran Motocross Championships near Mt Stewart. The two-day event will also include challengers for the junior women and veteran women's titles.
Last year's event was cancelled due to adverse weather so some of the competitors who do not compete during the regular season will be keen to get racing.
As with a lot of sports today, you can be as young as 30 years old to get among it in a vets race and motocross is no different. The entry-level age group starts at 30-34 and goes all the way to the 54-plus category.
The junior women races are for riders up to 17 and they compete in classes based on engine capacity in two separate classes, while the senior women will be part of a support class.
Being able to compete from the age of 30 means the event is used by some riders as a shakedown for next weekend's opening round of the New Zealand motocross championships. However, most eyes will be on Darryll King and Tony Cooksley, both of whom have competed at the highest level internationally with success.
King was second in the 500cc world championship in 1997 and 1998 and was also national 250 and 500cc winner as recently as 2006. He's a firm favourite to take out the 35-39 age group.
"I'm really looking forward to the racing as it kicks off our New Zealand season and it's a great stepping stone leading into next weekend's NZ championships," said King. "If the guys over 30 miss out this weekend they're going to be nowhere for the start of the championship. It's one of the best little paddocks that turns into a really cool, technical track for vets racing."
It's hard to guess where King's main competition will come from due to all the different age groups and it's impossible to know who may have sneaked into a different age bracket. "I'll be keeping an eye out for anybody who's on the start line," said King. "To be honest, I focus on what I have to do. I get the bike perfect, the body perfect and turn up on the weekend to have a fun time and race everyone."
King's younger brother Damien is the national 125cc title-holder and has his eye on the 30-34-division prize.
Cooksley cleaned up the world veteran's crown in 2007 and finished second in his age group at this year's championship where he was up against former Grand Prix riders. Although not expecting a walkover, he should dominate the over-50 class.
"It's a really good track down there, it's not often you get to race on a natural terrain track these days because most of them are man-made. It should be a lot of fun," said Cooksley.
Others in with a chance of honours in their respective age groups will be Yamaha riders Mitch Rowe and Ray Vandenberg, with Moston Wadsworth and Greg Ngeru Hondas and Kawasaki pilot Richard Furze. Winner of the eldest competitor title in 2006 Peter Palmer is back to try his hand again on a K".
The junior women races feature rising stars Courtney Duncan, Alex Dillon, Ashley Waghorn, Jesse Waterhouse and Nikita Knight, who line up in one all-capacities class, including bikes of 85, 125 and 250cc.