Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

New Zealand Motocross Champs: Rotorua hosts North Island segment

Bay of Plenty Times
21 Feb, 2020 09:36 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Australian rider Kirk Gibbs (Yamaha) was the best of the international riders at the first round of the NZ Motocross Nationals. Photo / CD Photography

Australian rider Kirk Gibbs (Yamaha) was the best of the international riders at the first round of the NZ Motocross Nationals. Photo / CD Photography

The Fox Racing New Zealand Motocross Championships begins their North Island segment this weekend with round two hosted by the Rotorua Motorcycle Club at its Highway 30 (Horohoro) track on Sunday.

The championships began earlier this month with their first visit to the Riverside Reserve at Balclutha where defending champion Cody Cooper (Mount Maunganui) made a winning start in the MX1 class.

Cooper rode to three wins from three starts on his Honda CRF450 while his nearest challenger was Yamaha's Australian team leader Kirk Gibbs who recorded a 2-2-3 effort.

Gibbs traded the podium finishes with reigning MX2 champion Hamish Harwood (KTM) of Takaka.

Cooper leads the MX1 class into the Rotorua round with 75 points, from Gibbs on 64 and Harwood on 62.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tight competition in the MX2 (250cc) category saw Mt Maunganui's Josiah Natzke (Kawasaki), Oparau's James Scott (KTM) and Australian Caleb Ward (KTM) each record an opening round win.

Natzke leads the series on 63 points from Scott on 57, Mangakino's Maximus Purvis (Yamaha) on 56 and Australia's Morgan Fogarty (Husqvarna) next with 47. The strong Australian challenge in the MX2 class also includes KTM team riders Riley and Caleb Ward and Honda's Kyle Webster.

The 125cc 2-stroke class was dominated by Tauranga's Brodie Connolly who rode his Husqvarna to three wins by commanding margins. Firmly established in second place with three runner-up finishes at the opening round is Tauranga's Madoc Dixon (KTM).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Following the Rotorua event the series moves to Hawke's Bay for round three on March 1 and the final is at Taupō's Digger McEwen MX Park on March 15.

NZ Motocross Championship (after round 1):

MX1 (450cc): 1 Cody Cooper (Mount Maunganui) Honda, 75pts; 2 Kirk Gibbs (Australia) Yamaha, 64pts; 3 Hamish Harwood (Takaka) KTM, 62pts; 4 Ethan Martens (Auckland) Kawasaki, 46pts; 5 Brad Groombridge (Taupō) Suzuki, 43pts.

MX2 (250cc): 1 Josiah Natzke (Mount Maunganui) Kawasaki, 63pts; 2 James Scott (Oparau) KTM, 57pts; 3 Maximus Purvis (Mangakino) Yamaha, 56pts; 4 Morgan Fogarty (Australia) KTM, 47pts; 5 Dylan Walsh (Christchurch) Yamaha, 44pts.

125cc 2-stroke: 1 Brodie Connolly (Tauranga) Husqvarna, 75pts; 2 Madoc Dixon (Tauranga) KTM, 66pts; 3 Marshall Phillips (Christchurch) Yamaha, 54pts; 4 Zac Jillings (Rongotea) KTM, 48pts; 5 Ben Wall (Ashburton) KTM, 42pts.

Discover more

Motorsport

Round one at Balclutha a success for Cooper, Connolly

03 Feb 07:35 PM

Motocross: Natzke dominant in Rotorua

23 Feb 09:32 PM

Newly developed motocross facility to be put to test

06 Mar 10:58 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Rotorua Daily Post

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

30 Jun 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Biggest summer of cricket' shapes up for Bay Oval

25 Jun 07:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM

The Māori All Blacks face Scotland in Whangārei on Saturday.

'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

30 Jun 06:00 PM
'Biggest summer of cricket' shapes up for Bay Oval

'Biggest summer of cricket' shapes up for Bay Oval

25 Jun 07:00 PM
Small but mighty: Kyro gets set for Tai Mitchell challenge

Small but mighty: Kyro gets set for Tai Mitchell challenge

24 Jun 09:26 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP