Bay of Plenty riders won two of the three classes and claimed more than half of the podium honours at the second round of the New Zealand Motocross nationals raced at Patetonga in the Thames Valley on Sunday.
Tauranga-based former world champ Ben Townley continued his unbeaten run in the MX1 (450cc) class and raced away to three wins aboard his Honda CRF450.
It was the most convincing display yet from Townley, 27, who returned to racing two months ago in a quest to restart his career after several years plagued by injuries.
Townley made fast starts and cleared out to beat fellow international racer Josh Coppins by margins of 33s and 37s respectively in the first two races and throttled back on another big lead in the third moto to finish 7s clear of Coppins.
"Today is the best day I have had for a long time. You wonder why they can't all be like that," said Townley.
"I've been really focusing on my starts and I got good starts today.
"The last time I raced here I was only about 14 and the track actually hasn't changed that much.
"What has changed is the way they prepare it. It got rough and really technical as the day went on and that was good for me," said Townley.
Before next Sunday's third round at the Harrisville track near Pukekohe, Townley is busy on a three-day test session with the Carlton Dry Honda team in Australia.
Motueka's Coppins (Yamaha) posted three second placings and defending MX1 champ Cody Cooper (Papamoa) edged out Rotorua's Michael Phillips (Honda) for the final podium spot. Cooper's two thirds and a fourth bettered Phillips' two fourths and a third.
"It was a hard day. I only got one good start and the other two were pretty average," said Cooper.
"The track got pretty rough and there was a double [jump] out the back which Josh and I stopped jumping but Ben was still doing it and it was worth a few seconds."
Cooper has moved up to third place overall and Phillips has climbed to fourth at the expense of former champ Justin McDonald (Christchurch) who slipped back into fifth place.
Townley has 150 points and leads Coppins on 132 with Cooper on 113, Phillips 102 and McDonald 100.
Rotorua's Brad Groombridge (Honda) is seventh, Mt Maunganui's Mason Phillips (Kawasaki) is eighth and Taupo racer Nick Saunders (Kawasaki) is ninth in the MX1 standings.
The MX2 (250cc) class arguably has the deepest pool of talent this year and Honda racer Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) stormed away to win the opening moto at Patetonga and become the fourth different winner in as many races.
Broxholme lost time with a crash and a broken brake lever in the second moto before recovering to 10th but was again a front runner and finished second to Queenstown's Scott Columb (Suzuki) in the final moto.
Defending MX2 champ Darryll King (Yamaha) of Hamilton won the second moto and has moved into the series lead with 134 points from Columb on 128.
Hawera's Daryl Hurley (Suzuki) is third on 105 and there's an eight-point spread from fourth to seventh with Broxholme on 97, Papamoa's Rhys Carter (Suzuki) on 91 while Auckland's Ethan Martens (Yamaha) and Upper Hutt's Jayden Jessup (KTM) are tied on 89.
The other BOP winner on Sunday was Rotorua teenager Cameron Vaughan (Yamaha) who turned the tables on first round winner Micah McGoldrick (Amberley) to take victory the 125cc class - and the under-21 youth category run within the 125cc class.
Vaughan posted two wins and a second to gain three points on McGoldrick in the title race.
Joining Vaughan and McGoldrick on the Patetonga podium was Katikati's Garth Amrein (Yamaha) who hadn't contested the opening round at Timaru. Amrein achieved two thirds and a ninth placing.
Rotorua veteran Cam Negus switched to a new Husqvarna 125 for the Patetonga round and moved up one place to third in the championship one point ahead of Te Puke teenager Logan Blackburn (Yamaha).
Blackburn had been fastest in qualifying but suffered a bike problem while running in third spot during the opening moto. He switched to a spare bike and finished fourth and third to remain in the hunt for a podium finish in the championship.
The Harrisville track near Pukekohe is the venue for round three this Sunday while the final is at Taupo's Digger McEwen MX Park on March 18.