Carter wins at Taupo's MX Fest

Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter (3Twenty3 Racing Kawasaki KX450F), on his way to winning the MX Fest at Taupo on Sunday. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

There's a new kid on the block and it seems he might be a bit of a bully.

The big annual MX Fest at Taupo is traditionally considered the first major motocross of the season, an event where the new model bikes are aired, new teams present themselves and riders can gauge where they stand before the serious business of the national championships take their full focus.

With a large green truck and awning threatening to steal the show in pit lane at Taupo there was no doubt that the rebranded and re-armed 3Twenty3 Kawasaki Racing Team had arrived, ready for business.

By the time the dust had cleared at the end of racing on Sunday afternoon everyone knew the men in green had to be respected with the team's MX1 rider, Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter, claiming the top trophy.

The 27-year-old Carter caused a few ripples when he sensationally won the first of the weekend's MX1 races, but more was to come when he showed it was no fluke, winning race two as well.

He finished third in race three and was top of the MX1 class standings with just the shoot-out series of feature races to come.

By the end of the day, the ripples had become a tidal wave, with Carter finishing runner-up to national MX1 champion Cody Cooper in the final shoot-out race, enough for him to claim overall honours, finishing six points clear of Mount Maunganui's Cooper, with Motueka's former world championship hero Josh Coppins another six points further back in third overall.

"I've not raced the MX Fest for the past two seasons as I'd been sidelined with injury. But I'm feeling good right now and knew I had the speed to win," said Carter.

"When I saw Cody (Cooper) crash in the first race, I knew I had a chance. I didn't have a great start myself and was about third from last at the start, but I put the hammer down and got the win.

"It was all about not following but being creative with line selection ... maybe going berserk around the outside of riders to get past.

"In the third race I made a mistake and stalled the bike in turn one. But then I got nudged by another rider and the bike just sparked into life again. I was a bit lucky with that. I got my way through to third but couldn't find a way past Josh (Coppins).

"Winning the overall was certainly a good way to start things with the new team."

Meanwhile, riding for the separate Whyteline Kawasaki Team, Ngatea's Ben Broad also showed he'd taken a liking to his new green bike, finishing fifth overall in the MX2 class on his first serious ride on Sunday.

National 125cc champion Broad was also the last of the MX2 riders to survive the all-capacities shoot-out feature, finishing that segment of the programme fifth overall.

"This was my first major outing on the Kawasaki and there's still a little bit of sorting to do with setting up the suspension and I knew it was going to be tough today, but it turned out to be a great start to the season," said the 17-year-old Broad, a year 13 pupil at Hauraki Plains College.

"School will be over for the year soon and so I'll be able to spend more time riding the bike and I'll be fitter and stronger by the time the nationals start (near Timaru in February), but my speed is already good."