North Harbour's Tau Edwards (left) and Sunset Coast's Maynard Peel battle it out in the 12-year-old boys final. Photo / Richard Robinson
Cambridge is rapidly becoming the domestic centre of the universe for BMX cyclists, with Sarah Walker and Kurt James picking up Superclass titles at the national championships in Auckland.
It was a double celebration for world No 1 Walker, who followed up her 12th national victory with a clean sweep
in the Superclass.
James, 19, is following in the tyre prints of another Cambridge rider Marc Willers, this country's leading male rider now based in California, while the Waikato town has been selected as the preferred base for BikeNZ's new centre of excellence.
James has made great strides in the last 12 months under BikeNZ's high performance programme led by head coach Ken Cools and recently qualified for the quarter-finals at the Supercross World Cup in South Africa.
He made a mistake in Saturday's national final but with champion Kurt Pickard on the sidelines yesterday, James was dominant in winning all three motos and the three finals in emphatic fashion.
Gisborne junior Nic Fox showed the benefit of his international experiences with the World Cup high performance team to finish second with Matt Cameron, of New Plymouth, third.
"It was just a silly little mistake with the unclip yesterday but this makes up for it today," James said.
"I found it a huge step up from the junior elite to the elite ranks but I have slowly progressed in the high performance group under Ken Cools who has so much experience."
James heads off this week to the United States where he will train and compete with Willers.
"I've got Marc Willers to aspire to and it's always good to chase him. The experience will be invaluable."
Walker, who lives in Cambridge but rides for the Rotorua club, was in a complete class of her own, saving her best for the final where she nailed the start and streeted the field.
She finished comfortably clear of New Plymouth's Victoria Hill, who continues to improve in her return to the sport, and Papakura's Nicole Wright.
"There's always something to work on. I was focusing on starts here and my processes for starting and it was good practice for me," Walker said.
- NZPA
