NZ 2019 TEAM
I
t was a completely fresh trio of Kiwis
selected to race at Assen’s Cathedral of
Speed TT circuit in The Netherlands after
all three individuals who represented New
Zealand at the Motocross of Nations (MXoN)
last year had been ruled out for 2019 either
because of injury or for personal reasons.
But, when the engines had be shut off and
the soup-like mixture of sand and water had
stopped vibrating, the Kiwi “Development
Squad” learnt they had finished 19th overall
of the 34 nations entered, just one position
down from where Team New Zealand had
finished at Michigan, in the United States, the
previous year, when Cody Cooper, Hamish
Harwood and Rhys Carter managed 18th.
Taupo’s Wyatt Chase (Honda), Mangakino’s
Maximus Purvis (Yamaha) and Christchurch’s
Dylan Walsh (Husqvarna) stepped forward
this year, each making their respective MXoN
debuts at this season’s 73rd annual edition of
the event and they did their country proud.
New Plymouth’s former motocross world
champion Shayne King and Rotorua-based
former top national-level racer Darryn
Henderson shared the managerial duties
and it was their experience and assistance,
40 KIWI RIDER
along with the sponsorship support from
Penny Homes and Best Build Construction,
plus the massive fundraising undertaken by
the Taupo Motorcycle Club with their Battle
of the Clubs motocross event in June, that
allowed the Kiwi campaign to succeed.
Team New Zealand qualified 17th during
the preliminary qualification races on the
Saturday and this gave them direct entry to
Sunday’s main event, when the three races
(MXGP/MX2, MX2/Open and MXGP/Open)
that really mattered would be fought out.
But the following day was when everything
unravelled for the Kiwis as they suffered
three DNFs in their six race results on
Sunday.
A mechanical issue struck MX2 class rider
Walsh in race one (as his gear-shift lever
broke) and he then suffered a crash while
running 12th in race two (and that resulted
in him dislocating his shoulder). These two
incidents ruined what had otherwise been a
promising campaign.
MXGP class rider Chase was toughness
personified as he and the rest of the team
kept it quiet that he had seriously injured
himself during a training crash a few days