Wet weather dampened the racing but not the spirits at the BMX National Championships in Tauranga for Nationals Championships held over Easter.Local favourite Cody Stevens won the national title in the weather-affected championship. BikeNZ High Performance rider Matt Cameron (Taranaki) took out Snr Superclass contest.
Taranaki’s Victoria Hill proved dominant in the Elite women’s ranks, unbeaten in all four qualifying races on the way to defending her New Zealand title. Hayley Gedye, also unbeaten in qualifying, finished a close second to her. Great to see the 17-39yr riders step up and finish 3rd and 4th behind these Elite riders with Nicole Eady (Whangarei) and Abby Fox(Gisborne) have a great tussle for 3rd and 4th, which was actually 1st and 2nd in their class, with this race finishing in a photo finish.
There were over 900 event entries in elite and age group races as riders from four years to over 50 years vied for honours. The event also included the selection races for 11-year-olds for the upcoming annual Test match against Australia.
The Elite men’s field attracted less than eight riders, with the leading riders in Manchester for the UCI Supercross. The title was decided over three motos with Stevens grabbing two wins and a second for the overall honours. “It feels pretty good, a bit of a monkey off my back, a weight off my shoulders – I had a lot of support from Tauranga cheering me on which was good,” Stevens said. “I’m hoping to get over to America again near the end of this year and do some more racing over there, in with the big guys. I’ll still be training right through winter, and this is a good starting point,” said the young rider who was a First Reserve Elite for last year’s World Championships in Auckland.
Cameron and North Harbour’s Michael Bias jockeyed for 2nd and 3rd in the first two motos, but Bias dominated the third race to achieve 2nd overall ahead of Cameron. Michael Bias is heading off to Europe to compete in his first SX event in Papendale and then two of the Euro rounds.
Cameron, Stevens and Bias also dominated the qualifying rounds in the hotly contested Superclass division before a smoking final. Cameron and Stevens were neck and neck throughout before the Taranaki rider showed his experience to edge his way to a classy finish. “It was pretty wet out there. I suppose everyone has to ride the same conditions, but I was pretty worried about how slippery the track was, but I pulled through I guess.” said Cameron. “Cody’s improved really well, making leaps and bounds which is good to see, he’s got a big future ahead of him.”
Cameron heads to California next month to train with fellow high performance rider Marc Willers and compete in the ABA series throughout USA. His main goal is to perform in the Supercross round in Germany in June, which is the first Olympic qualifying round.
With just four Elite women entered, the Women’s Superclass did not run, and instead of a separate Elite race these talented women raced in with the 17-39 Challenge Classes.
Hill and Hayley Gedye won all of their individual motos and semifinals, not racing against one another until the exciting final. Hill was victorious in the championship race, just ahead of Gedye – a repeat of last year’s result for the pair, with North Harbour rider Shannon Alexander rounding out the podium in third place.
Christchurch’s Cayleb Martin and Whangarei’s Donald Ross dominated the Junior Elite division.
Results, BikeNZ BMX National Championships, Tauranga:
Male:
Elite: Cody Stevens (Tauranga) 1, Michael Bias (Auckland) 2, Matt Cameron (New Plymouth) 3.
Junior Elite: Cayleb Martin (Christchurch) 1, Donald Ross (Whangarei) 2, Cole McOnie (Te Awamutu) 3.
5 and under: mixed: Matt McFarlane (North Harbour) 1, Ryan Halfpenny (North Harbour) 2, Shannon Davies (Tauranga) 3.
6 years: Bradley Lautenbach (North Harbour) 1, Tyla Dinsdale (Whangarei) 2, Blaise Boyle (Waitakere) 3.
7 years: Riley Nikolajenko (Levin) 1, Rory Meek (Dunedin) 2, Sam Cannon (East City) 3.
8 years: Ryan Hastings (Rotorua) 1, Will Skipper (Rotorua) 2, Lewis Atkinson (Mountain Raiders) 3.
9 years: Jack Greenough (Cambridge) 1, Maui Morrison (Cambridge) 2, Tipene Kennedy (Kapiti) 3.
10 years: Logan Hall (Cambridge) 1, Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Rotorua) 2, Daniel Butterworth (Rotorua) 3.
11 years: Rico Bearman (Waitakere ) 1, Joshua Brown (Papakura) 2, Finn Currie (North Harbour) 3.
12 years: Ryan Martin (Cambridge) 1, Tasman Wakelin (Nelson) 2, Jono Sargison (Taupo) 3.
13 years: Cailen Calkin (Hamilton) 1, Logan Clarke (Nelson) 2, Ronan Millar (Cambridge) 3.
14 years: Ryan Jordan (Hamilton) 1, Logan Hirst (Taupo) 2, Jamie Williams (North Harbour) 3.
15 years: Maynard Peel (Sunset Coast) 1, Kieran Ngatai (Tauranga) 2, Jayden Fleming (Papakura) 3.
16 years: Josh Smith (Te Awamutu) 1, Carlos Kershaw (Papakura) 2, Kyle Rutherford (Dunedin) 3.
17-29 years: Jono Varty (Kaiapoi) 1, Adam Coker (East City) 2, Avon Peel (Dunedin) 3.
30-39 years: Tim Ferguson (Cambridge) 1, Andrew Jackson (New Plymouth) 2, Jason Waite (Hawkes Bay) 3.
40-49 years: Dave Mohi (Rotorua) 1, Scott Hazlewood (North Harbour) 2, Paul McGarva (Tauranga) 3.
50 years plus: Pete Roden (Tauranga) 1, Noel Frank (Tauranga) 2, Roy Leaning (Christchurch), 3.
Cruiser class, 8-10 years, mixed: James Whyte (Mountain Raiders) 1, Trey Royal (Tauranga) 2, Maui Morrison (Cambridge) 3.
11 & 12 years, mixed: Dylan Belle (Papakura) 1, Michael Ranford (Taupo) 2, Thomas Marchant (Papakura) 3. 13-14 years: Cailen Calkin (Hamilton) 1, Mitchell McFarlane (Papakura) 2, Braeden Brown (Papakura) 3.
15-16 years: Clay Merito (Te Awamutu) 1, Fletcher Sharman (Alexandra) 2, Connor Scott (Papakura) 3.
17-29 years: Jono Varty (Kaiapoi) 1. Adam Coker (East City) 2, Ben Walter (Cambridge) 3.
30-34 years: Kurt Bagby (East City) 1, Mike Reader (Hawera) 2, Lance Dinsdale (Whangarei) 3.
35-39 years: Steven Schimanski (Hawera) 1, James Grey (Hawkes Bay) 2, Tim Atkinson (Mountain Raiders) 3.
40-44 years: Richie McLachlan (Papakura) 1, Nigel Dixon (New Plymouth) 2, Craig McIntosh (Taupo) 3.
45-49 years: Paul Luttrell (Hamilton) 1, Ash Rawson (Tauranga) 2, Scott Hazlewood (North Harbour) 3.
50 plus: Phil Pinkerton (Tauranga) 1, Pete Roden (Tauranga) 2, Peter Cook (Tauranga) 3.
Female:
Elite: Victoria Hill (New Plymouth) 1, Hayley Gedye (New Plymouth) 2, Shannon Alexander (North Harbour) 3. Women’s Juniors: Robin Goomes (North Harbour) 1.
6 years: Amy Davies (Tauranga) 1, Paiton Taylor (Northland) 2, Lucy Axon (Papakura) 3.
7 years: Lily Greenough (Cambridge) 1, Bellah Birchall (Rotorua) 2, Meg Short (Rotorua) 3.
8 years: Sacha Earnest (Mountain Raiders) 1, Sage Piebenga (New Plymouth) 2, Greer Hall (Cambridge) 3. 9 years: Leila Walker (Cambridge) 1, Brooke Penny (Te Awamutu) 2, Elliot Kale (Tauranga) 3.
10 years: Megan Williams (Rotorua) 1, Jenna Hastings (Rotorua) 2, Ella Daniel (Te Awamutu) 3.
11 years: Tia Hastings-Thurgood (Cambridge) 1, Ruby Laidlaw (Southland) 2, Emma Pugh (North Harbour) 3. 12 years: Charlie Lester-Rosson (Taupo) 1, Shakira Mirfin (Southland) 2, Mia Tuigamala (Waitakere) 3.
13 years: Jessie Smith (Gisborne) 1, Kaly Harcourt (Hamilton) 2, Baylee Luttrell (Hamilton)3.
14 years: Jordan Donaldson (North Harbour) 1, Chelsea Coleman-Te Hiko (East City) 2, Ashley Williams (North Harbour) 3.
15 years: Amy Martin (Hawkes Bay) 1, Lisa Roguski (Tauranga) 2, Maggie Donovan-Cotter (Rotorua) 3.
16 years: Rebecca Petch (Te Awamutu) 1, Courtney Brunton (Te Awamutu) 2, Zoe Fleming (Papakura) 3.
17-39: Nicole Eady (Whangarei) 1, Abby Fox (Gisborne) 2, Desiree Blakey (Whangarei) 3.
40 years plus: Jude Halley (Gisborne) 1, Leah Belle (Papakura) 2, Jo Coombes (Hutt Valley) 3.
Cruiser, 13-16 years: Rebecca Petch (Te Awamutu) 1, Jessie Smith (Gisborne) 2, Ashley Coleman (Rotorua) 3. 17-29 years: Corrina Lloyd (Christchurch) 1, Alice Rika (Papakura) 2, Abby Fox (Gisborne) 3.
30-39 years: Sarah Pickin (Cambridge) 1, Claire MacDermid (Cambridge) 2, Kelly Cousins (Tauranga) 3.
40 years plus: Amelia Johnston (Dunedin) 1, Leah Belle (Papakura) 2, Jenni Nelson (Cambridge) 3.
Superclass, Male: Matt Cameron (New Plymouth) 1, Cody Stevens (Tauranga) 2, Michael Bias (Auckland) 3.
Mighty 11 Test Team Selection:
Girls – Shakira Mirfin (Southland) – Team Captain, Tia Hastings-Thurgood (Cambridge), Mia Tuigamala (Waitakere) and Niamh Masson (Tauranga).
Boys – Tasman Wakelin (Nelson) – Team Captain, Jack Keown (Christchurch), Guy Johnston (Cambridge) and Austin Lupton (Te Awamutu).
