MotoX: Lady luck rides close to Kiwi pair

This weekend’s MX round will be pivotal, writes Andy McGechan

It was a frustrating case of "what ifs" for the Kiwi 250cc class riders at the seventh round of 10 in the Australian Motocross Championships on the Sunshine Coast, but they'll be hoping to make amends at round eight at Raymond Terrace, in New South Wales, on Sunday.

New Zealanders Kayne Lamont and Hamish Harwood have been solid contenders to win the MX2 (250cc) class across the Tasman this season, but unless their luck changes over the three remaining rounds, either of them celebrating another Australian title win might be out of the question.

Mangakino's Lamont won the Motocross Development (under 19) title in Australia in 2012 and Takaka's Harwood won the title last season.

These young men have since stepped up to the MX2 class for 2014 and both riders have looked to be solid performers.

Lamont, the 2014 New Zealand MX2 champion, won the opening round of the Australian series near Melbourne in March, but crashed out of the opening race at round two at Appin, New South Wales, in April.

The BikesportNZ.com-supported Husqvarna rider finished sixth in race two but had disappointingly slipped from first to fourth in the standings, with Luke Clout (Yamaha YZ250F) becoming the championship leader.

Twenty-one-year-old Lamont rebounded at round three at Wonthaggi, in Victoria, and was back up to second spot, just 13 points adrift of Clout.

But it was the good, the bad and the ugly for Lamont at round four of the series in South Australia in May.

Consistency put Hamish Harwood (above) second in the Australian championship standings.

The good aspect of racing for Lamont was that he convincingly won the first of two MX2 (250cc) class races.

But then came the bad - Lamont was caught in a first-turn skirmish at the start of race two and dropped his bike, his handlebars now bent.

The ugly aspect was that he'd lost more ground on series leader Clout.

His experiences at round five of the series at Wanneroo, on the outskirts of Perth, in May could have come straight from the "believe it or not" files ... Lamont takes up the story:
"I was getting down into bed the night before the racing, and I leaned down on my elbow, on the collarbone I broke in 2013, which jarred it. I was rolling around in pain in bed.

"I battled away with it all day but in the second race of the day I had a crash, which completely stuffed it."

At round six, in Victoria last month, Lamont had another tough day and he slipped one more place to sixth overall in the standings after finishing sixth and 12th in his two races.

He was fired up to rectify matters at round seven at Conondale, near Coloundra, on the Sunshine Coast, just over two weeks ago, but once again Lady Luck decided she'd have some fun at his expense.

A heavy landing on a jump in the opening race shattered a dozen spokes on his rear wheel and he was forced to quit the race while he was running in third position.
He fought back to finish second and third in the next two races.

He ended the day ranked just 10th overall with a score card that read DNF-2-3, leaving the Kiwi champion seventh overall with just three rounds remaining.

Lamont has shown awesome pace and won two of the seven rounds thus far, but two non-finishes have cost him dearly.

Meanwhile, fellow Kiwi rider Harwood, from Takaka, has been flying under the radar; almost ignored by the Australian media despite the fact he's second in the standings.

Consistently finishing races and pocketing solid points at every round means Harwood is within strike range of leader Clout. The 19-year-old Harwood (KTM 250) qualified fastest at Conondale and went on to log a 2-12-5 score card in his three outings.

"I finished only fifth overall (at Conondale), but I'm still in a good position to win the title," he said.

This weekend's action could be pivotal for both the Kiwi contenders.