Taupo's Cohen Chase (Yamaha YZ250F), with the national 14-16 years' 250cc title in his grasp for 2014. Photo/BikeSportNZ
Taupo's Cohen Chase (Yamaha YZ250F), with the national 14-16 years' 250cc title in his grasp for 2014. Photo/BikeSportNZ
Dominant performances, epsecially from Taupo's Chase brothers, were the hallmark of racing at the 2014 New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships at the weekend.
Titles were on offer in six categories in Greymouth and maximum tallies were achieved by riders in four of those at the Backflips Clothing and KTM-sponsored event,at Waipuna Station, Ikamatua, Westland.
Racing was reduced from seven races per class to just five over Saturday and Sunday as wild weather leading up to the event had turned much of the venue - about halfway between Reefton and Greymouth - into a quagmire. But fine weather greeted the riders for much of the weekend and there seemed to be no problems for the riders to find traction on the farmland course.
Taupo's Cohen Chase won three of his five races in the premier 14-16 years' 250cc class, and he finished runner-up in the other two, easily beating Oamaru's Joel Meikle to the trophy. Cohen's younger brother Wyatt Chase enjoyed similar dominance in the eldest of the 85cc bike classes, for riders aged 13-16 years.
Wyatt Chase won four of his five outings, an eighth placing in race one his only hiccup. Wyatt Chase finished the championship equal on points with Taihape's Hayden Smith, but was given the title on a count-back because he had scored more race wins.
