They came, they saw, they pondered: can anyone beat Hawera's Daryl Hurley?
The Suzuki ace, crowned national 500cc motocross champion in November, was unstoppable at the third of four rounds of the New Zealand Supercross Championships in Manukau last Saturday night, the first time since 1989 that supercross
has been staged in Auckland.
The 31-year-old Kiwi international was too good for the cream of New Zealand's stadium motocross riders and too tough, too, for the visiting riders from the United States, Australia and Scotland.
Taranaki's Hurley (Suzuki RM-Z450) was unbeaten in nine races at Manukau - three open-class races, five dash-for-cash tussles and the all-capacities feature final that set off fireworks to end the night in Auckland.
Australians Tye Symmonds (KTM) and Nathan Bochtrup (Honda) were second and third overall, while Queenstown's Scotty Columb (Suzuki) and American Billy Ainsworth (Kawasaki) managed fourth and fifth overall in the elite open class.
"My goal this year is to win the supercross title and then head across the Tasman to win in Australia again," said Hurley.
"It's going to be a long, hard season, but it seems to be starting off okay."
Hurley's Suzuki team-mate, Hawera's Luke Burkhart, was also unbeaten in the Lites (250cc four-stroke) class and took over the series lead there from fellow Team Suzuki rider Columb.
South Islander Columb had been one-point ahead of Burkhart before Lites class racing began at Manukau, but is now runner-up and 36 points behind Burkhart in the series standings. Dual-class ironman Columb is also runner-up in the open class, 47 points behind Hurley.
Taupo's Nick Saunders (Kawasaki) remains third in the open class and Hamilton's Jesse Wiki (Kawasaki) is still third in the Lites class after Saturday night, under lights on the open-air circuit next to the TelstraClear Events Centre.
In the junior racing, Warkworth's Hamish Dobbyn extended his lead in the 14-16 years 250cc class; Rotorua's John Phillips snatched the advantage in the 12-16 years 125cc class; Tauranga's Roydon White (Yamaha) pounced and took the lead in the 13-16 years 85cc class; and Feilding's Haki Waller stretched his lead in the 11-12 years 85cc division.
The fourth and final round of the series is set for Wanganui's Cooks Gardens arena on March 1.
