Pōrangahau: Titles decided in 2022 National Cross-Country Series

Te Awamutu's Nixon Parkes (KTM 125SX), one of only three riders to win a race in this season's cross-country championships. Photo / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

In eight championship races over four rounds there were just three different race winners this season, but plenty of motorcycle category trophies were still to be decided when the 2022 New Zealand Cross-country Championships finally wrapped up at the weekend.

Remote farmland at Pōrangahau, in Central Hawke's Bay, was the scene on Sunday for the fourth and final round of the 2022 season and, while the two main titles had already been sealed at the previous round near Dannevirke a month earlier, there was still the matter of determining who would take home silverware in the individual bike categories.

Oparau's James Scott (Honda) won each of the three rounds of the Yamaha-sponsored nationals that had already been staged, easily clinching the senior crown overall for this season at round three near Dannevirke last month, with Napier's Tommy Watts (Yamaha) and Taupō's Wil Yeoman (Yamaha) forced to settle for second and third overall positions respectively.

Cambridge's Jared Hannon (Kawasaki) was similarly impressive in wrapping up the junior title on the same day in April, Easter Monday. Like Scott, Hannon had also compiled an unbeaten 1-1-1 score-card from the first three rounds.

But this did not diminish the significance of Pōrangahau's final round on Sunday, with a few more chapters still needing to be written.

It was business as usual for Scott on Sunday, who again won the three-hour senior race, making it an unbeaten string of four wins from four starts for the series.

Runner-up to Scott was Yeoman, with Watts settling for third place on Sunday.

These three riders will remain highly active over the coming weeks as they work to prepare themselves to race, not as rivals, but as teammates, when they tackle the International Six Days Enduro event in France in late August and early September.

Senior class winners were settled at the weekend, with Scott taking the four-stroke over-300cc class honours and Watts winning the four-stroke under-300cc class.

Other senior class winners were Yeoman (two stroke over-200cc class); Dannevirke's Ben Paterson (Yamaha, two-stroke under-200cc class); Waipukurau's Stephen Sergeant (Kawasaki, veterans' 35-44 years class); Feilding's Hugh Lintott (KTM, veterans' over-45 years class); Auckland's Charlotte Russ (Yamaha, women's class) and Te Awamutu's Jack Carmichael (Husqvarna, under-19 class).

Sitting second in the junior points before the start of Sunday's racing was Te Awamutu's Nixon Parkes (KTM) and, with Hannon opting not to travel to the race on Sunday, it left the way clear for Parkes to step up and take the junior race victory at this final round, thereby joining Scott and Hannon as one of only three riders to win a race outright this season.

Parkes finished Sunday's 90-minute junior race five minutes clear of runner-up Blake Lusk (New Plymouth, Yamaha), with Taupō's Josh Yeoman (Yamaha) completing the junior podium.

In the battle for overall honours in the junior grade (behind Hannon), Parkes' win on Sunday gave him the nod over Lusk, New Plymouth's Josh Houghton (Husqvarna) and Josh Yeoman.

In the battle for junior bike class titles, Hannon had already sealed up the four-stroke over-200cc title, while Parkes collected the two-stroke over-85cc title and Eketāhuna's Ollie Corbin (KTM) won the under-85cc class.

Motorcycling New Zealand cross-country commissioner Chris Smyth said Sunday's racing was a "stern test of character" with heavy rainfall overnight turning parts of the course into a quagmire.

"It was one of the wetter events we've had in the past 10 years of running this series. It makes winning, or even just finishing, an event like this all that much sweeter," he said.

"It was great to see a couple of the senior riders from past years putting something back into the sport too, with Brad Groombridge coaching Nixon Parkes and Kevin Hermansen coaching Ben Paterson to some great successes.

"This series wouldn't have been possible without the ongoing sponsorship of Yamaha New Zealand and also thanks to the support of bike parts and accessories wholesaler Northern accessories."