MARTON motocross rider Michael McCarthy stepped up to win his first national title at the New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships near Otorohanga at the weekend.
The 15-year-old won all his seven races to take out the 12-16 years' 150cc class from fellow Honda riders Stuart Young (Napier) and Cody Rickit (New
Plymouth).
McCarthy, who is sponsored by Wanganui's Keown Honda, said it was awesome to win the title, especially as his best finish previously at the championships had been third in 2005.
"I've never won anything this high up," he said. "But I've been training a lot harder."
McCarthy, who has been riding motocross for about six years after being introduced to it by a "friend who had a bike", said the key to winning each race had been "staying in focus and staying on".
"The conditions got pretty bad the second day with torrential rain and mud, which made it real tough," said McCarthy.
McCarthy, who also finished seventh in the 15-16 years' 125cc class at Otorohanga, said he'd eventually like to race overseas.
Wanganui's Tom Managh also had success at the four-day meet, finishing third behind Isaiah McGoldrick (Rangiora, KTM) and Christchurch Honda rider Craig Smith in the 12-14 years' 125cc category.
More than 365 riders turned out for annual event, which featured racing in seven separate age-group and bike capacity classes, with seven races in each category.
Waitakere's Ethan Martens, who lost his grip on the national title when he crashed and broke his shoulder while leading his class last season, made up for it this year, winning the two main categories at the championships.
"I was winning the 15-16 years' 125cc class last year when I crashed," explained the 16-year-old.
"I ended up 13th in 2007 and that was hard to take." But now the KTM rider is a double champion, surviving a long and arduous weekend of qualifying and racing to win both the 14-16 years' 250cc four-stroke class and the 15-16 years' 125cc two-stroke class as well.
