2013 New Zealand Supercross Championship

Hosted by South Canterbury Motorcycle Club in conjunction with Backflips, the
2-round series has attracted talent from both sides of the Tasman.  

NZ’s top talent of Cody Cooper (Honda Shop), Rhys Carter (Moto-City Suzuki), Justin McDonald (Honda), Jesse Donnelly (Kawasaki), Peter Broxholme (Honda), Kieran Scheele (Kawasaki) and Micah McGoldrinck (Honda) will line-up against Australia’s talented and recently crowned Australia SX U19 Champion Jay Wilson (Yamaha) along with Matty Hayworth, Nick Sutherland, Sam Duncanson, Tyler Darby and Sam Noonan.  

Having completed a full season racing Australia MX Nationals U19’s finishing 2nd behind NZ’s Hamish Harwood then clinching Australia’s SX U19’s Title, Wilson is looking forward to competing in NZ’s SX Series.   Supported by Josh Coppins Altherm JCR Yamaha Jay agrees: "Definitely the highlight of the year was winning U19 Supercross Championship as the start of the year didn’t go to plan. I proved to myself and a lot of people that I could get out of a hole as I never gave up. Yes, I’m excited to race in NZ with the support of Josh. I have a lot of respect for the guy I feel he has helped me a lot this year and never stopped believing in me."

Rhys Carter (Moto-City Suzuki) is certainly keen to race Supercross again: "It will be good with Jay coming over to race, it makes it more exciting for everyone and helps raise the profile of the sport."  

With many in the industry speculating that NZ SX was and is a non-event, the championship series entries prove otherwise.   NZ SX organiser Noel May says the series has come about through communications with brands, Team Managers, riders and the commitment of long time advocates promoting SX in NZ - Josh Coppins, Ben Townley, Scott Wilkins, Neil Ritchie and Jim Cooper.  

Noel May: "There have been a number of meetings to get quality riders to compete in the SX Series so the event is exciting and entertaining to sell to the public. We are taking small steps to build NZ SX Series for the future. Post this season I would aim for all manufacturers to support, that riders must race SX to be a part of brand teams.  Furthermore, to have MNZ come on board and make it mandatory that riders must have current SX experience to be eligible for either MXoN and/or Oceania,"  states Noel.     
Certainly, NZ SX 2 Round Series looks set to move the discipline forward with odds on how many SX Championship Titles stay in NZ or go across the ditch.    

Words: Sharon Cox