When Logan Blackburn began his final year at Tauranga Boys College yesterday he did so as a newly-crowned New Zealand Grand Prix winner.
Blackburn, 17, secured the biggest win of his motocross career on Sunday taking out the senior 125cc title at the annual NZ Grand Prix at Woodville.
It was a successful day for BOP riders with the 125cc podium also featuring Rotorua's Cameron Vaughan (Yamaha) who was two points behind Blackburn while Katikati's's Garth Amrein (Yamaha) was third and Tauranga's Scott Barr-Smith (Honda) claimed fourth overall.
Blackburn was third in the opening race behind Canterbury's Micah McGoldrick (KTM) and Vaughan. He led the second moto for four laps but began to suffer arm-pump and finished second to Vaughan and completed the day leading from start to finish in the third moto win to clinch the GP crown as Vaughan raced back to fourth place after an early crash.
As well as the GP title, Blackburn was awarded the Rod Shirriffs Memorial Trophy for the best performance by an under-21 125cc rider.
Blackburn said coaching help from Tauranga's Niki Urwin has made a big difference to his riding.
"Niki has been helping me for about four months. We're working on the mental side as well as basic skills and it's helped me to be more relaxed," said Blackburn.
"I got good starts on Sunday and was second out the first corner in each race which put me in position to pass for the lead."
Next on the agenda for Blackburn is the 125cc class of the New Zealand MX Nationals which start at Timaru on February 12.
"My goal was to be top-five in the nationals [he was tenth last year on debut in the senior ranks] but I think top-three is possible."
The Grand Prix was another important step in the return of Tauranga-based international Ben Townley (Honda) who beat Suzuki's national champ Cody Cooper (Papamoa) in the MX1 (450cc) class.
"I won three out of four races and managed to win the Grand Prix title which is something I had never been able to do before," said Townley.
The 27-year-old former MX2 world champ is rebuilding his career after a run of injuries in recent years. He returned to the sport by winning the Summercross event at Whakatane just after Christmas.
"I've done a lot of practising but you never really know how things are progressing until you are racing. But after Whakatane and Woodville I'm very happy."
Townley's return will see him contest the upcoming four-round NZ Nationals and then race for the Carlton Dry Honda team in the Australian Champs.
"I've tried to simplify things and we have a very stock set-up on the bike with just a few refinements," said Townley.
In the MX1 races Townley produced a 1-2-1 scorecard and he also raced away to win the international invitation raced by 25secs from Josh Coppins (Yamaha) and Cooper (Suzuki).
Cooper said he was pleased with his Woodville effort and the buildup for his national title defence.
"I got good starts and managed to get one win. The conditions were rough and fast and it was good preparation for the first round of the nationals at Timaru.
"I've got a few more things to work on and some testing to do before Timaru."
Along with Cooper, Coppins and Townley and 2009 champ Justin McDonald (Honda) the MX1 class is likely to be boosted with up to three top Australians contesting the Kiwi title.
The MX2 racing at Woodville saw Masterton's Luke Burkhart (KTM) in dominant form with three wins taking the GP title ahead of national champ Darryll King (Yamaha) while Suzuki's Scott Columb (Queenstown) edged out Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda) by one point for third place and Suzuki's Rhys Carter (Papamoa) was fifth.
Busy lad
Te Puke teenager Michael Scott is on double duty this weekend racing in both the Formula Ford and Formula First classes at Hampton Downs.
The two single-seater classes are on the support programme for the fourth round of the international Toyota Racing Series. Scott has delivered an impressive rookie performance in the Formula Ford class driving a Mygale for the Motorsport Solutions team from Christchurch.
At the most recent round at Timaru on January 21-22 Scott consolidated his second place in the series behind defending champion Andre Heimgartner who leads the series with 645 points from Scott in 535 and Southland's Brendon Leitch on 464.
"It's been quite a big step up to Formula Ford mainly because the racing is a lot more intense," says Scott.
"But I've really enjoyed the Formula Ford because the handling is a lot better than a Formula First."
Scott is also fifth in the Formula First series. The fifth round at Taupo last weekend saw him suffer some mechanical problems with a 10th and eighth placing before a fourth in the final race of the weekend.
Unbeaten in GT2
Tauranga's Justin Herbert enjoyed another successful outing in the GTRNZ series at Taupo last weekend.
Herbert (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) led the GT2 point standings going into the fifth round of the series and was unbeaten in the GT2 class in the three races and re-set his own GT2 lap record on Sunday morning.
He also won the final race outright getting the better of Glenn Smith's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the closing laps as the pair worked through the traffic from a 50secs handicap.
Tauranga's Brian Gray had two third placings in his quad-rotor Mazda RX7 and finished the day with a fifth placing in the handicap race.
"I haven't seen the points after Taupo but I would have extended the lead in GT2 and I might have also sneaked into the lead of the combined GT1 and GT2 championship," said Herbert.
The penultimate round of the GTRNZ series is at Manfeild on February 25-26 and the final is the traditional Taupo Easter weekend meeting. Two other Tauranga drivers won races at Taupo last weekend with Brett Harris (Nissan Skyline) taking a Saturday victory on the GTNZ category and teenager Todd Prujean (Toyota Starlet) won the SS2000 handicap race on Sunday morning.
Busy schedule
Motorsport BOP competitors are having a busy start to the year with three events in four weekends.
The club started its season with a gravel sprint event at the TECT All Terrain Park on January 22 and this Sunday the action switches to tarseal with dual sprints at the Taupo Motorsport Park. Then on February 12 the club is running an autocross at the Waihi Beach Dirt Track Club. The William Rd gravel sprint at the TECT All Terrain Park attracted 23 drivers and saw 2011 club champ Phil Campbell (Mitsubishi Mirage V6) begin his season with a narrow win over Te Aroha's Graham Featherstone (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3).
The margin of victory was just 0.34secs with Gisborne driver Marcus Beaufoy (Subaru Impreza) taking third place ahead of Tauranga's John Bouzaid (Subaru).
Jalopy Dust Up
The rescheduled Jalopy Dust Up event for traditional hot rods and vintage racing cars takes place this Sunday at the Waihi Beach Dirt Track Club.
The fourth annual Dust Up which provides low-key dirt track racing with "cat-and-mouse" style two-car duels was set to run in early January but was washed out by bad weather.
Practice will get under way at 10am with racing from noon. The Waihi Beach Dirt Track Club is at 597 Beach Rd, Waihi Beach.