Motorsport: Clubs fight it out for top spot

Taupo's Wyatt Chase (Yamaha), one of the major contributors towards his South Waikato Motorcycle Club team winning the 2014 Battle of the Clubs at the weekend.Photo/Andy McGechan

New Zealand has a new champion motorcycle club.

The Tokoroa-based South Waikato Motorcycle Club (SWMC) became the fourth different club in five years to win the big annual Battle of the Clubs motocross - a fundraiser event to help send a Kiwi squad to the "Olympic Games of motocross, the annual Motocross of Nations, in Latvia in September - when they dominated racing at Taupo on Saturday.

The format used for Saturday's fundraiser motocross in Taupo was similar to what the Team New Zealand trio can expect when they line up in Latvia against national teams from around the world.

Riders aligned on club loyalties on Saturday, putting aside their bike brand or regular race teams to unite under regional flags, with the aim of finding out which one club was the best in New Zealand motocross.

The club-based teams each comprised six riders - three junior and three senior riders - who competed on 85cc, 125cc, 250cc and 450cc machines.

Each contestant rode twice, with the two worst results to be discarded so only 10 of the 12 results were counted in the final tally.

The six-rider SWMC team of Dion Picard (MX1 class), Cohen Chase (MX2), Nigel Gainfort (veteran), Ben Broad (junior 250), Wyatt Chase (junior 125) and Ollie Ayre (junior 85cc) finished the day 29 points better than the team from the Taranaki Motorcycle Club and 35 points better than the eventual third-ranked Nelson Motorcycle Club.

The Taranaki Motorcycle Club team comprised Daryl Hurley (MX1), Aaron Janes (MX2), Mitch Rowe (veteran), Nick Hornby (junior 250), Ryan Gwynn (junior 125), Kade Wilson (junior 85), while the Nelson Motorcycle Club riders were two-time former world No2, former Australian and former New Zealand champion Josh Coppins (MX1), Hayden Wilkinson (MX2), Grant Walker (veteran), Isaac Millson (junior 250), Reece Walker (junior 125), Clayton Roseke (junior 85).

Nearly $10,000 was raised at the fundraiser event last season, which went towards New Zealand's three-rider entry to the MXoN in Germany last year, and a similar amount was raised to send the Kiwi team to Latvia this time around.

The three riders (plus a reserve) to represent New Zealand in Latvia in September are expected to be named in the coming weeks.