GO
Oparau ’ s James Scott ( Honda CRF250 ), one of the favourites to win at Summercross this season
By Andy McGechan
albeit a month later , with Saturday , January 29 , set aside for Junior and Mini Bike racing and Sunday , January 30 , the date for the Seniors , Veterans and Women to race . The event will again this year act as a springboard for riders heading into the busy part of the season , culminating with the fourround New Zealand Motocross Championships in February and March . It will be hard to look much further than riders such as Mount Maunganui ’ s Cody Cooper ,
Oparau ’ s James Scott , Hamilton ’ s Kayne Lamont , Mount Maunganui ’ s Josiah Natzke , Edgecumbe ’ s Quade Young , Tauranga ’ s Brodie Connolly and Wairoa ’ s Tommy Watts , to name a few , should also be knocking on the door for the prized silverware . Rising stars in the sport such as Tauranga ’ s Madoc Dixon , Palmerston North ’ s Luka Freemantle , New Plymouth ’ s Logan Kerrisk and Rongotea duo Seth Henson and Zac Jillings also add undeniable class to proceedings and any of them could be fancied to spring a surprise or two . Will we see Micah McGoldrick , Tyler Steiner , Tommy Watts , Richard Horne , Jesse Donnelly , Rian King , Jared Hannon , Jack Coleman , Halle Cox , Hannah Powell , Roma Edwards and Zara Gray , for example , also using this event to shake out a few cobwebs ? All of these riders add even more depth to the racing and perhaps make picking a winner almost impossible . With the annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville at the end of January already cancelled , this makes Whakatane ’ s Summercross event even more of a standout and a now a very rare opportunity for the country ’ s elite to properly warm up ahead of the 2022 senior nationals . Riders will no doubt use this event as part of their build-up to the Summer season , particularly the four-round nationals , with round one of that to be held in the South Island on Saturday , February 12 , 2022 . Local heroes and heroines – from Whakatane , Ohope , Edgecumbe , Thornton and Kawerau – will , naturally , be out in force again , possibly including Finn Baker , Miller Spence , Hunter Davies , Corey and Chloe Munn , Ashlee and Josh Jennings , Jack Elliott , Corban Toone , Olly McIlroy , Troy Wilson , Carter Davies , Morgan Purcell , Samuel East , Hadley Gibson , Aydan Hall , Flynn Spence , James Wilson , Troy Wilson , Andrew Savage , Geordie Boon , Jak Purcell , Darren Capill , Charlotte Knight , Kaylene Cornes , Sophie Tierney , Brooklyn McGovern and Flynn Watts .
KIWI RIDER 15