Kiwis right in contention

Aussie 250cc title wide open, writes Andy McGechan

The love-hate sporting relationship between New Zealand and Australia has really been put to the test this season with the Kiwi motocross men stirring up their Australian cousins across the Tasman.

Commentators at the Australian Motocross Championships events have had to get used to calling out the names of New Zealand riders as they challenge the established Australian heroes for a major share of the glory and, while Australian riders do top the leader board in both main classes, they cannot afford to rest on their laurels with plenty of action still to come.

It has been particularly exciting for Kiwi race fans watching the battles in the MX2 (250cc) class where New Zealand pair Hamish Harwood and Kayne Lamont have been pushing hard for the No1 spot.

South Islander Harwood is second in the MX2 rankings and Bay of Plenty's Lamont is fifth, both riders already with proud pedigrees in Australian competition after Harwood won the Australian national under-19 crown last season and Lamont claiming it the year before that.

But, for 2014 New Zealand MX2 champion Lamont, this year's Australian campaign has been fraught with difficulties.

The Husqvarna Red Bull WIL Sport team rider from Mangakino has tasted both the giddying highs and the depressing lows in an MX2 class battle that reached the halfway stage in Perth just over a week ago.

With five of the 10 rounds now complete, the BikesportNZ.com-supported rider can reflect on the past few months and be proud that the results show he has won more races than any other rider in the class this season.

So it is frustrating for him that he has slipped from first after round one to fifth spot overall.

Lamont has won an impressive four out of 13 races thus far, but crashes and injuries have also cost him dearly and he is disappointed and angry to be 37 points behind the series leader, Australian Yamaha star Luke Clout.

In his latest hard-luck health story, he hurt his pectoral area due to an old collarbone injury, leaving him an agonising pain on race day.

A crash in the second race of the day put paid to Lamont's chances.

For Harwood, from Takaka, near Nelson, his flight path has been a little under the radar.

His best placing so far has been a second placing in one race -- at round three in Wonthaggi in Victoria in April -- but consistency throughout sees him now within easy strike range of points leader Clout.

The 19-year-old Harwood finished the day fifth overall at Perth but that was still enough to see him rise up to second position overall.

"That's the closest I've been to Clout in the points all series and now I think my championship-winning chances are looking very good," said Harwood.

"It was a good and bad day for me in Perth," said Harwood. "I'm not really happy with how I went but, looking at the championship, it's a good result. Both Kayne [Lamont] and Luke [Clout] had bad days, so that means it was good for me."

The Kiwi heroes now get down to prepare themselves mentally and physically for the demanding second half of the season, which resumes at Swan Hill, Victoria, in about five weeks' time (on June 29).

MX2 class
standings
1 Luke Clout 326
2 Hamish Harwood (NZ) 316
3 Brenden Harrison 296
4 Luke Arbon 293
5 Kayne Lamont (NZ) 289
6 Kale Makeham 287