The 60th Anniversary of the Woodville MXGP played host to the best of the best NZ had to offer in the NZ Motocross scene on another blistering hot Manawatu day.

Doubling as Round 1 of the New Zealand Motocross Nationals, there was always going to be surprises aplenty on the tough, demanding track. Now let’s get into what really went down at Woodville 2021.

The 60th Anniversary of the iconic Woodville International MXGP couldn’t have been a better spectacle, with huge numbers turning up for both the Saturday (Juniors) and Sunday (seniors) event. So much so that the MX2 riders were forced into qualifying sessions with a handful of riders not making the 40 strong start gate. We haven’t seen a full gate for a few years now. But in classic Woodville fashion, the big boys got the ball rolling for the 60th year running.

MX1

Straight out of the gate, Hamish Harwood and his immaculate KTM 450 SX-F decided the buck stops with him, grabbing a distinctive holeshot over the rest of the field and leading start to finish in an impressive opening stanza.

Last years NZMX runner up Cody Cooper, latched onto the back of Harwood and followed the KTM rider throughout the race, yo-yo’ing from 3 seconds down to right on his back wheel. Harwood always had an answer for Cooper’s challenges and the Honda man had to settle for runner up.

Josiah Natzke opted to double class in both MX1 and MX2. After a decent showing in Race 1 on the 450, he decided to pull out and focus solely on his MX2 tittle hunt.

Fresh Fade for Woodville for the Suzuki rider Brad Groombridge.

Kawasaki rider Ethan Martens was putting in good results onboard his KX450, but sustained a bad crash that required hospitalisation. We wish the Aucklander all the best in his recovery.

This was as close as Cooper got all day to Harwood. He just couldn’t get a wheel ahead to challenge for the lead. Cooper also made some bike changes for moto 2 which were disastrous, dropping him nearly half a lap back from those fighting for the lead in that race and off the podium. He would make up for it with a podium in the final race.

Yamaha rider Kayne Lamont had another steady day, hovering around 4th position. Nothing fancy for the Fox racer, but banking solid points on a tough track.

Even though Harwood drew first blood, it was Wyatt Chase who surprised everyone with his moto 2 & 3 scores. Something clicked with the Chase Works sponsored rider as he holeshot the last two motos and lead start to finish in an impressive display of skill that no one was expecting to see. Moving from the 250 to the 450 has done wonders for Wyatt’s speed. The kid has always been fast, now, can he keep it up for the rest of the season?

MX2

MX2 was an interesting match up. Two veterans of the class with Josiah Natzke and Maximum Purvis (yes they are not old), with new-comer James Scott thrown in the mix. Brody Connelly also made an appearance in race one before going down and giving up the early lead.

Josiah battled with James Scott for most of the day, but uncharacteristically was found wanting for speed - Scott getting the upper hand on all three occasions to take runner up spot. Natzke mentioning on the podium that he didn’t like the track and was struggling all day. We expect the Kawasaki rider to bounce back at Round 2 of the NZMX nationals. He will need to if he wants to turn that number 2 into a 1.

If there was a doubt on anyone’s mind about the determination and willingness to win coming from the Maxims camp, that was quickly silenced with his race one victory. Coming from outside the top five after one lap, it only took a further two laps for the Yamaha rider to move into the lead and start to pull away from the rest of the field - and easily too. Then he repeated the effort in the following two races to clean sweep the day in MX2. Having been know to throw races away with silly, unpressured mistakes in past seasons, has the Altherm Windows backed rider put all those mistakes to bed for 2021? We can’t wait to see how round two goes for him.

James Scott came out swinging onboard his new 2021 ride with Blue Wing Honda. Fresh to the factory ride, and spending plenty of time with MX1 teammate Cody Cooper, Scott was a grey area when it came to title contention in the class. And while he may not have displayed the raw speed that Maximus showed, he did prove he has the skills to pay the bills and be on the podium week in and week out. And if we know anything about a series, you have to be there at the end to be into win.

Here is a picture of the new 250F Gas Gas ridden by Hayden Smith because, I think the bike looks cool as shit.

VETS

Cam Negus made a return to Woodville in the vets class, which was opened up to 35+ riders, allowing a larger contingent of racers to compete. But it was still the 40+ guys who showed how it’s done. Sometimes brains wins out over brawn. Cam went 1-1-1 in a host of mismatched gear that would make Kris Keefer cry. Clearly matching isn’t a priority when you are banking those W’s.

Also, where on earth did he find that Pro Grip gear from?

Paul Whibley also made an appearance at Woodville, citing lack of bike time the reason for getting amongst a few gate drops. With the Cross Country nationals coming up, Paul enjoyed some much needed competition on his way to second behind Cam. Paul also won the spectator friendly River Race…again.

A blast from the past Johnny Burkhart tackled the Woodville sun and was a consistent 3rd place in the first two motos. A high-side in moto three while leading around Talladega left the South Island rider off the podium for the day and with a nicely bent up KTM.

Mitch Rowe was the benefactor to Johnny’s crash, rounding out the podium in the Vets class. He also participated in the River Race, promptly drowning his bike on the first lap of race one - in classic Mitch style.

The amount of media vests that could be seen wandering the track all day was astronomical. There were purple-people everywhere. All you need is a camera and Facebook page.

125

Unfortunately, the 125 race was right before the river race, meaning I was not able to take pictures. So instead, here are possibly the biggest calves in NZ motocross? Change my mind. Can you guess who it is?

But in a nutshell, Brody Connolly went 1-2-1 to take the 125 title. The only rider to snatch a win from Brody was Hayden Smith on his Gas Gas 125 - he went 3-1-2 for second overall. New Yamaha factory rider Madoc Dixon rounded out the overall podium with his 4-3-3.

WOMEN

Current number 1 Amie Roberts showed flashed of speed all day, but when the finish flag flew she was just a tad off the pace of the front two. Look for Amie to rebound at round 2 in a bid to hold on to that number 1 plate for 2021.

Taylar Rampton got off to a great start on her KX250, taking the early race lead and winning the first outing for the woman. She would then post solid results and finish the day in 2nd overall.

But when it was all said and done, Roma Edwards could not stop herself from posting moto scores of 2-1-1 and taking the 2021 Woodville MXGP. Her consistent riding and smooth line selection kept her ahead of the other contenders, onboard her Yamaha YZ250F. She now has a target on her back going into round 2 of the NZMX Champs.