Rotorua motocross rider John Phillips eyes up Summercross crown in Whakatane

Rotorua's John Phillips, of the Honda Racing Team, is aiming to mount a challenge at the Whakatane Summercross. Photo / Andy McGechan

Rotorua motocross rider John Phillips would love nothing more than to give himself a late Christmas present, and winning the Honda Whakatane Summercross would be the perfect gift.

The annual event, on Friday and Saturday, always attracts elite New Zealand racers and Phillips certainly falls within that category. The Honda Racing Team rider is one of the favourites to win the premier MX1 class as well as perhaps the event overall.

The venue for the two-day spectacular – the popular Awakaponga circuit, near Matata, just outside Whakatane – is well liked by 24-year-old Phillips, but, unfortunately for him, it is also a happy hunting ground for his Honda teammate, Mount Maunganui's Cody Cooper, a three-time outright winner at Summercross.

Former Opotiki man Cooper, the reigning national MX1 champion, won Summercross in 2013 and was the main winner there in 2015 and 2016, and Phillips has a huge task on his hands with Cooper again on the starting list this time around.

"I've been working a lot on my fitness lately," Phillips said.

"I have been training a lot with Cody [Cooper] too and I've been learning from chasing him. Cody is definitely the man to beat at Summercross, but I've picked up the pace lately too. Cody is the target man for everyone and he doesn't have a bad day very often.

"I'm not quite on the pace of Cody just yet, but racing is always different from training, so you never know do you? I feel as if I'm closing the gap on him."

Besides favourites Cooper and Phillips, there are any number of top riders capable of winning at the post-Christmas event, a shake-down before the annual Honda New Zealand Grand Prix at Woodville on January 27 and 28, followed by the four-round nationals that kick off near New Plymouth on February 4.

Also riding for the Honda Racing Team are Tauranga's former Rangiora rider Micah McGoldrick and Cambridge's Trent Collins, while the winner of the MX1 class at October's MX Fest event in Taupo, Mangakino's Kayne Lamont, and national cross-country champion Brad Groombridge, of Taupo, should also pose threats.

The MX2 class will be bulging with hot talent too, Takapuna's national MX2 champion Hamish Harwood up against other top riders such as Taupo's Wyatt Chase, who won the class at the recent Auckland Motocross Championships, along with Kotemaori's Reece Lister, Tauranga's Josh Tredinnick and Rangiotu's James Anderson.

The cream of the sport are expected to arrive for Summercross with Mangakino's Maximus Purvis, Te Puke's Tyler Steiner, Oparau's James Scott, Wairoa's Thomas Watts, Taihape's Hayden Smith, Karaka's Kurtis Lilly, Ngatea's Ben Broad, and Tauranga's Royden White, to name just a few, among the more fancied names.

The event is a two-day affair, with minis and juniors racing on Friday and the seniors, women and veterans on Saturday.

It is interesting to note that Phillips' older brother Michael won Summercross outright in 2010, something Phillips would love to emulate, although he says he "tries not to compare" himself to his brother.