Motocross: Taupo rider in top form for champs

Taupo's Brad Groombridge (Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki RM-Z450) was unbeatable in the MX1 class at the weekend. Photo/Andy McGechan

The writing is on the wall and it is splashed there in big, orange lettering.

The New Zealand Motocross Championships are set to kick off near Timaru next month and, if racing in the Thames Valley is any indicator, then the CMR Red Bull KTM Race Team is certainly one crew that deserves to be respected.

The team dominated racing in two of the three main senior classes at the annual Valley Motocross Championships at Patetonga, near Morrinsville, at the weekend.

Hat-tricks were the order of the day at the Valley Champs.

In each of the three senior men's classes, and the women's category, the winners all finished the day unbeaten with three unanswered wins.

Taupo's Brad Groombridge (Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki RM-Z450) won all three MX1 races, finishing ahead of Hamilton KTM rider Jesse Wiki.

Meanwhile, Hamish Dobbyn (Matakohe) took his CMR Red Bull KTM 250SX to annihilate the MX2 (250cc) class, snatching the holeshot in all three of his races and never looking back.

Dobbyn's CMR Red Bull KTM team-mate Josiah Natzke, from Hamilton, was a runaway winner of the senior 125cc class, finishing ahead of fellow KTM rider Aaron Wiltshier from Tauranga.

In the women's grade, Opunake's Taylar Rampton took her Husqvarna CR125 to a clean-sweep.

"The day was awesome," Dobbyn, 21, said.

"I qualified fastest and the day stayed perfect after that as I took three holeshots and was never headed.

"It was so good to be getting back into action and finishing on top after my recent training accident, where I had knocked myself out."

Dobbyn is serious about his fitness and believes his training is paying off.

"I have been doing a lot of work lately with my personal trainer, Nelson's Jade Thompson, and I have been hooking up to a heart monitor, then plugging that in to the computer for Jade to read.

"I can't cheat on my training and it's paying off. My fitness is getting better each time I ride."