Motocross: Aussie champ joins Altherm JCR team

TOP GUN: Australian supercross champion Jay Wilson, the Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team's latest recruit. PHOTO/BIKESPORTNZ.COM JAYWILSON

An Australian champion will step in to fill a void left by a top Rotorua rider when the New Zealand Motocross Championships kick off near Timaru in February.

Glandular fever and complications after having his tonsils removed have sidelined last season's national 125cc champion Cameron Vaughan, just as the Rotorua man was preparing to step up to the MX2 (250cc) class for the 2014 season.

It did not ring too many alarm bells for his Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team because the Josh Coppins-managed outfit already has New Zealand MX2 champion Scotty Columb, of Queenstown, to wave the flag for them in that class.

"But Scotty is riding the YZ250 two-stroke and we really wanted to showcase the new 2014-model Yamaha YZ250F four-stroke as well this season," said Motueka's former world championship star Coppins.

"We are very grateful that Jay Wilson's Serco Yamaha race team in Australia was prepared to release him to us for our nationals.

"Jay will head straight back to Serco immediately after our championships.

"It just goes to show how closely Yamaha in Australia and New Zealand work alongside one another."

The next major outing for the Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team is to contest the Whakatane Summercross on December 28-29, followed by the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville on January 25-26.

The 2014 nationals kick off near Timaru on February 9 and wrap up at Taupo on March 23.

The team will have Waitakere's Ethan Martens to campaign their Yamaha YZ450F in the MX1 class at Whakatane, Woodville and at the nationals, while Columb will race the MX2 class in all three competitions.

Te Puke's Logan Blackburn, the national 125cc No2, will race the MX2 class at Whakatane and revert back to the YZ125 bike for Woodville and the nationals.

Popular British rider Billy MacKenzie will again race the MX1 class for the Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team, joining the squad at Woodville and staying on for the nationals.

It will be a truly international Yamaha line-up in 2014, with the Kiwis joined by "Flying Scotsman" MacKenzie and just-crowned 2013 Australian supercross champion Wilson. He has formed a strong bond with Coppins and his crew - he raced for the Altherm JCR Yamaha Race Team in the NZ Supercross Champs, winning the senior Pro Lites (250cc).