Natzke on the Verge of Doing the Double   9 Mar 2015

Bikesport NZ

Natzke on the Verge of Doing the Double


MARCH 9, 2015: Waikato’s Josiah Natzke is on the verge of winning his second consecutive senior national 125cc motocross crown, a full year before it would be compulsory for him even to become a senior rider.

With 17 the age at which a rider must step up from the junior ranks to senior competition, 16-year-old Natzke is already well ahead of the pack.

The Hamilton teenager became the youngest rider ever to win a senior title last season and is now just a few days away from successfully defending that title after another scintillating performance at the third round of four in the 2015 New Zealand Motocross Championships near Rotorua on Sunday.

The CMR Red Bull KTM Team rider scored another hat-trick of wins on Sunday, ballooning his advantage from 11 points over Taupo's Cohen Chase at the start of the day to now be 37 points clear of new No.2 man, Ngatea's recent CMR Red Bull KTM Team signing Ben Broad.

Chase crashed and finished down in 15th place in Sunday's first 125cc race at Rotorua and, although he managed third and second placings in the races that followed, his result in race one has cost him dearly.

Broad was a picture of consistency, finishing 3-4-3, although he will need to step it up at the final round near Pukekohe this coming weekend if he hopes to catch Natzke and, besides that, Chase is breathing down his neck, just one point behind.

Natzke has now won eight of the nine 125cc races held thus far and, if he had not crashed at the start of one of his races at the series opener in February, forcing him to settle for eighth in that fateful race, he may well have been able to record a perfect campaign.

As it is, Natzke has enough points in the bag that he could potentially wrap up the title early and be able to skip entirely the final race of the series next weekend.

That won't happen, however, because Natzke is riding his KTM bike as much as he can before he leaves for Europe in just over a week, when he will continue his preparations to tackle the EMX 125 European Championships.

He will race for the KTM factory in the EMX 125 European Championships, the eight-round competition beginning at Trentino, Arco di Trento in Italy on April 19 and concluding on August 30 in Assen, in the Netherlands, at the end of August.

"I'm riding as much as I can at the moment, which is why I have also been racing in the MX2 class here in New Zealand, just so that I get more practice battling with fast riders," he explained.

"I am really excited about going to Europe. Everything is waiting for me when I arrive in Brussels. I will be doing a lot of bike testing before the first EMX125 race and will also be racing the Dutch championships at one of the sand tracks over there as part of my build-up. That will be interesting."

Meanwhile, the fourth and final round of the JT Racing-sponsored New Zealand Motocross Championships series is set for Harrisville, on the outskirts of Pukekohe, this coming Sunday.

Credit: Words by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com


Add a comment

News

Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students

29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more

New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process

7 Mar 2020 News By Rt HON WINSTON PETERS
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more

Business

NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19

17 Mar 2020 Business News By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more

NZ Government announces aviation relief package

19 Mar 2020 Business News By Hon Phil Twyford
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more

Living

Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London

6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall. It was the first... more

Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate

12 Jan 2022 Arts By Charlotte Everett
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...  New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more

Property

Fairer rules for tenants and landlords

17 Nov 2019 Property By Minister Kris Faafoi
17 NOVEMBER 2019 The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more

New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax

17 Apr 2019 Property By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more

Migration

Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued

19 Nov 2019 Migration By Hon Iain Lees-Galloway
19 NOVEMBER 2019 We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more

Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location

18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018 HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more

Travel

Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more

New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas more

Sport

The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners

27 Oct 2019 Cricket By Charlotte Everett
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more

PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final

26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more

Columns

Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade

11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade First published on Werewolf The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more

Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome

10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell   Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more

Kiwi Success

Congratulations to Loder Cup winner

26 Sep 2018 People By Hon Eugenie Sage
25 SEPTEMBER 2018 The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more

Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO

16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO HON JENNY SALESA Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more

Recruitment

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

14 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

22 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more