Local riders battled it out in the second round of the New Zealand Motocross Championships in the weekend.
Manawatu riders were at an advantage in the weekend racing at the Flipp's Motocross Park facility at Himatangi for the second round of four in the national series.
About 130 riders battled it out, completing three rounds of nine laps, gaining total times which contribute to the overall winning times in the final round in Taupo.
Local rider Hamish Clausen was racing in the MX1 450cc class and said he definitely felt he had an advantage over other riders who were not familiar with the track.
"Local riders had a huge advantage over other riders who have never raced on the sand track, even though we had to adjust to the new extensions."
Mr Clausen had a total of 17 riders in his category and encouraged others to step up and give it a go as the maximum total can be 40 riders.
"It would only help improve the rider's skills going into a bigger class," he said.
Mr Clausen won the Manawatu Championship last year and plans to lift his game to comfortably sit in the top 10 in the next national championship series.
Race director and secretary for the day Anna Cvitanovich said she was excited to have run the event locally for the first time.
"We had riders from all over New Zealand and Australia, and had more locals participate at national level. It really put Manawatu on the map."
The four racing classes were MX1 -- 450cc bikes, MX2 -- 250cc bikes, 125 -- 125cc bikes and MX3 which was the support class.