Scott Columb could not have asked for a better lead-up event to defending his national MX2 crown at the first round near Timaru this weekend.
The Queenstown rider was unbeatable in the MX2 class, winning five races from five starts, at the annual two-day Gold Nuggets Motocross at Ikamatua, between Greymouth and Westport, last weekend.
Columb (Yamaha YZ250) finished runner-up to Scottish rider and Altherm JCR Yamaha team-mate Billy MacKenzie (Yamaha YZ450F) in the MX1 feature race.
''This was a completely different race for us after Woodville,'' team manager Josh Coppins said, referring to the disastrous weekend they endured at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville a week earlier.
Columb had crashed heavily in the day's opening race at Woodville, bravely fighting back through the pack to finish 16th, and, although he won the final MX2 race of the weekend, he had to settle for an unaccustomed fifth overall that day.
''The Gold Nuggets event was ideal in terms of getting Scott back feeling comfortable again after the difficult day we had at Woodville,''Coppins said.
Regan Turner (10) won his 8 to 10 years, 85cc class and fellow Dunedin rider Grason Veitch (11) was second in the 11 to 12 years, 85cc class. Neither will ride in the national series as the four rounds have senior classes only.
Although Columb (30) will be one of the favourites to win the MX2 class at the opening round at the Backflips Dirt Farm, on Chisholm Rd, Pleasant Point, he will have Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter (Suzuki), Auckland's Hamish Dobbyn (KTM), Rotorua's John Phillips (Honda), Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda), Hamilton's Darryll King (Yamaha) and Australian Jay Wilson (Yamaha) hot on his heels. Also shadowing his moves will be two younger Otago MX2 riders, although Dunedin's Campbell King (19) injured the ligaments in his foot at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville late last month and was unsure whether he would make the start line on Saturday.
When he rode this week every time he put his foot down it ''felt like it was going to blow out,'' he said.
King intended to do the practice laps and ''see how it goes'' in terms of racing.
Joel Meikle (16), of Oamaru, also hurt himself at Woodville but his arm muscle puncture was on the mend.
''I'm back riding this week and everything was sweet. I'm a bit sore. I know it's there,'' Meikle said.
He will be stepping up into the MX2 class for the first time, riding a Honda CRF 250 and admitted to feeling ''a little bit nervous''.
Palmerston's Courtney Duncan is making a return to racing after a head injury, riding in the series' 125cc open class.
She can expect tough competition from Te Puke's Logan Blackburn (Yamaha), Atiamuri's national junior champion Hadleigh Knight, Hamilton's Josiah Natzke (KTM), Christchurch's Dylan Walsh (KTM), Tauranga's Aaron Wiltshire (KTM), Ngatea's Ben Broad (Yamaha), New Caledonia's Laurent Fath (Yamaha) and England's Rob Holyoake (Husqvarna).
Following the Pleasant Point event, the series heads to Tokoroa for round two on February 23. Round three follows in Pukekohe on March 9, and it wraps up in Taupo on March 22.
