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.
Baypark domination
Baypark drivers comprise just over a third of the field chasing success at the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship at Kihikihi Speedway this weekend.
There are 22 Baypark drivers entered among the 61-strong field for the national title headed by defending champ Brent McClymont (Tauranga), the champion in 2009 and 2011.
McClymont heads into the championship having just lowered the Baypark lap record last Saturday night while recent home-track form also points to the Matamata duo of Paul Cressy and Jeff Barron, Tirau racer Michelle Wymer, Gisborne's Dan Corrin and Tauranga's Chris Cowling as being the strongest hopes for Baypark success.
It will be the fifth time the saloon class has contested the national title since being fully recognised by Speedway NZ in 2007.
Along with McClymont's two wins it was Whitianga's Phil Towgood who was the inaugural champion and Steve Williams was successful at Baypark in 2010. Both are chasing success again at Kihikihi while Auckland racer Nigel Ross and Cromwell's Daryl Ainsley are also highly-rated title contenders.
Qualifying - with the field split into four groups - is on Friday evening with finals on Saturday. Racing starts at 6pm both days.
Te Puke drawcard
Te Puke is the centre of Bay of Plenty motorsport action this weekend with the penultimate round of the 2011-12 National 4x4 Trials championship and a double-header of kart and motorcycle racing.
Saturday's 4x4 event is based at the Rangiuru School with spectator access to a number of hazards that will test the skills of drivers and the abilities of their machinery.
"The venue is ideally formed for spectator benefit and the BOP4WD Club and Rangiuru School invite everyone to come along to watch the top drivers in NZ compete in this thrilling and highly competitive sport," said Neville Dunton, vice-president of the BOP4WD Club and NZFWDA national competitions officer.
Vehicles in action will range from production models fitted with roll cages and safety equipment through to purpose-built competition machines with high-powered V8 engines and sophisticated suspension and transmission technology.
So far this season, national rounds have been held in New Plymouth, Cambridge, Wanganui and Wellington. Following the BOP event, the final of this year's series will be staged near Paeroa over Easter weekend.
Close competition has seen three different overall winners in the four rounds held to date.
Last season's champion Dan Cowper (Wanganui) won the opening round while Mitch Seymour from Wellington won the Cambridge and Wanganui events. Seymour is driving a new truck this season which has been designed and built by Howatt Engineering in the Hutt Valley which is claimed to produce over 700-horsepower.
After two second placings earlier in the year, Derek Smyth (Wanganui) won the most recent round at Whitemans Valley near Wellington.
A course comprising 30 obstacles - 15 attempted in the morning and the remainder in the afternoon - has been plotted at the Rangiuru Rd. The Rangiuru School uses gate sales and income from food and drink stalls to raise money for various school projects. The event starts at 8.30am.
Also on Saturday, Te Puke's Fagans Valley Raceway combines round two of the 2012 BOP Kart Club points series with the special attraction of broadsliding Supermotard motorcycle racing.
The meeting has a late-start "twilight" format with racing expected to start about 1pm.