The wins just keep mounting up for the CML KTM Racing Team after another brilliant display at the weekend, this time at round two of the New Zealand Motocross Championships at Balclutha.
This second round of four in the 2024 series saw something of a shake-up in the points standings across several classes, with Bombay’s Reuben Smith (pictured here) enjoying the most dramatic advance of all.
The 16-year-old took his 125cc KTM bike to record a sensational hat-trick of wins at Balclutha on Sunday, rocketing himself to the top of the class standings.
Smith had been third in the class rankings after the series opener near Rotorua three weeks ago, but his unbeaten run in Otago on Sunday saw the teenager propelled into the spotlight, onto the top step of the 125cc podium.
Team boss Karl Brabant was mightily impressed with his young rider.
“I believe it was his first ever outright win at senior level,” he said.
“What’s more, he won all three races and that’s even after him not grabbing great starts. He came through traffic each time to take the lead and pull away.
Smith won race one by 6.3 seconds from Invercargill’s Seth Morrow, won race two by 3.2 seconds from runner-up Morrow and won race three by 9.4 seconds from Appleby’s Wills Harvey.
“I think Reuben (Smith) has firm belief in himself now and understands the value of fitness training,” said Brabant.
Meanwhile, Smith’s more experienced team-mate, Auckland-based former Takaka man Hamish Harwood, maintained his position atop the premier MX1 class after recording an impressive 2-1-2 score-line in his three races at Balclutha.
What makes this more remarkable is that the man from Royal Heights had smashed the knuckles on his left hand when he hit a trackside marker post early on at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville at the end of January and, although convinced he’d broken at least one bone in his hand, he still went on to score a hat-trick of wins in the premier MX1 class.
Six days later and, with medical checks confirming he had indeed broken a bone in two places, the 28-year-old full-time builder and part-time racer rolled up at the opening round of the 2024 New Zealand Motocross Championships near Rotorua and very nearly repeated the feat, settling instead for 1-1-2 results that day.
Harwood (KTM 450SXF) is certainly made of stern stuff and he continued to fight through the pain barrier at Balclutha, doing enough to keep a firm grip at the head of the class standings as Australian professional Jed Beaton mounted his charge for the top with a 1-2-1 score-card on Sunday.
“Hamish (Harwood) should probably have won that first race on Sunday but a bunch of lappers got in his way and ran him off the track,” said Brabant.
“He still had a massive problem with his broken left hand. He could feel the pain with every bump, but he’s a tough guy. There are not many quite like Hamish. He will need an operation when the nationals are over.”
The series now takes riders back north again, with Pukekohe hosting round three at Harrisville, on March 23. The fourth and final round is set for the Barrett Road facility on the outskirts of New Plymouth on April 13.
© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Find BikesportNZ.com on FACEBOOK here