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Photo - King and Hurley face off against each other - and a few more over the next few months in Australia:
Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
Email Andy: He may have a photo of you in his extensive files?
Words by Andy McGechan:
WATCH out Australia, the Kiwis are coming again, and in greater numbers this year.
Hamilton's Darryll King is itching to begin the defence of his Australian motocross title and knows his biggest threat will not necessarily come from the native Australians but from within his own family, from his younger brother, New Plymouth's Shayne King.
Shayne was runner-up in the prestigious Maxxis Mister Motocross: series in Australia last year as the siblings, between them, swept aside all challengers.
And it is looming as another Kiwi smash and grab trans-Tasman raid this year with New Zealand boosting it's chances still further as another Kiwi international heads across to try his luck on the vast red dirt of Australia -- 2004 Motocross des Nations teamster Daryl Hurley -- amazingly, yet another rider from Taranaki.
The Hawera 28-year-old returns to the South Pacific after two seasons racing in the United States and he is expected to give the King brothers a good run for their money. Hurley beat Shayne King to the main trophy at the annual Woodville GP in January.
So it could easily be a Kiwi 1-2-3 in Australia this season -- if the King brothers and Hurley live up to their star billing -- and it is perhaps just a matter of deciding the finish order.
The eight-round series kicks off at Wonthaggi, in Victoria, on Sunday. (March 20)
For Shayne King, this year's campaign has special significance. Increasingly tied to his growing business and family life, the reigning New Zealand champion in two classes is finding it tougher these days to squeeze motocross into his busy lifestyle and he says 2005 may be his final shot at glory across the Tasman.
“I would love to go out on a winning note,” said Shayne (34), who last won an Australian title when he took the four-stroke crown in 2003.
He is on a new team this year, no longer with the Honda factory but on a smaller satellite team. “It suits me very well. I have more freedom now to use the tyres and parts I want. I had some issues with the tyres I was given last season. My engines will be supplied by renowned American tuner Mitch Payton, from Pro Circuit in California. “I know Darryll and I gave the Aussies a good spanking last season but I don't think any one rider will dominate this year.”
Aside from his brother and Hurley, he rates Australian Craig Anderson, the man who took his spot on the factory Honda team, as one man to watch. Like Hurley, Anderson has just returned after two seasons in the United States.
Meanwhile, Australian No.1 Darryll King (36) is still recovering from injury and is underplaying his chances of featuring at the series opener. But he reckons he'll be a title contender by season's end. Darryll broke a major bone in his foot during a crash at Whakatane's big Christmas motocross meeting in December and was forced to spend five weeks reclining on a sofa. “I've spent all summer in plaster but my leg feels good again now,” he said.
Even with such a handicap to his training, the Yamaha rider is confident he'll be ready to perform this weekend. “I hope to get reasonable results at the opening round (of the Mister Motocross series) and build from there as the season progresses. There is a bit of a break between round one and round two (on April 10), so that helps me too. “If my leg's not 100 percent though, that could be a problem. You've got to put your foot on the ground somewhere around a motocross track.”
He doesn't feel any added pressure on him by having the coveted No.1 on his Yamaha YZ450. “It's everyone racing for themselves out there and I don’t think anyone targets other riders. Besides, if I'm plodding around in 10th place, that's not much of a target for anyone is it?”
The King boys and Hurley will be joined in the Pro Open class battles by fellow Kiwis Nick Saunders (20), from Taupo, riding a KTM450, and Wellington-based Wairarapa rider Corrie Sargent.
Another New Zealander, Opotiki's Cody Cooper is tipped to successfully defend his Pro Lites title (for the smaller 125cc two-stroke and 250cc four-stroke bikes) and again shut the Aussies out of their own national event in that class too.
But this year he'll also have to contend with fast Kiwi riders such as Masterton's Luke Burkhart, the class winner at October's Taupo spectacle and at January's big GP event near Woodville. Expect adopted Kiwi Barry Morris (from Scotland) to also feature in the Pro Lites.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's No 1 woman motocross rider, Aucklander Katherine Prumm, will do a full campaign in Australia this year and is favoured to bring home the only Australian motocross title to elude New Zealand's grasp last season.
The Australian women's title was won last season by Aussie Lisa Irwin, just one point ahead of from Hastings' Mary Perkins after the title chase went down to the wire at the final round in Victoria. That final round last season saw Prumm win both heats in her international debut, coming from behind to push Irwin into second place on the day. Prumm's stunning performance raised a few eyebrows in Australia and she confirmed she would return across the Tasman to race a Kawasaki KX250F.
A Pukekohe High School student, the 16-year-old Prumm said she had abandoned plans to race in the United States this year, and was now committed to the three-round:
Australian Women's Series:
Woollongong in New South Wales on July 24.
Conondale in Queensland on August 14.
Newry in Victoria on October 23.
Prumm felt her experience racing with the boys and junior men in New Zealand as she came up the ranks would hold her in good stead for her first full international campaign. “To beat the boys, you have to race like them -- give as good as you get and be aggressive,” said Prumm, who will be racing for the last time as a junior at the junior nationals in New Plymouth next month (April 22-24).
2005 Maxxis Australian Motocross Championship calendar:
Rd1 March 20 Wonthaggi, Vic
Rd2 April 10 Horsham, Vic
Rd3 April 24 Toowoomba, Qld
Rd4 May 1 Coolum, Qld
Rd5 May 22 Newcastle, NSW
Rd6 June 12 Penguin, Tas
Rd7 June 26 Gillman, SA
Rd8 July 3 Conondale, Qld
