Only two points prevented the three-rider Altherm JCR Yamaha motocross team from clean-sweeping the trio of main classes at the MX Fest 2022 over Labour Weekend.
The team’s two younger riders dominated their categories, with Waitoki's Cole Davies winning both the Junior 125 and Senior 125 competition and Brodie Connolly, of Tauranga, coming out on top in MX2.
It was down to MX1 rider Maximus Purvis to pull off the top-tier class victory his Team Manager Josh Coppins was gunning for. The Mangakino flyer got off to a great start, winning the first two races over his main rival Cody Cooper. Then Cooper hit back in the final race to take the chequered flag ahead of Purvis.
The results hinged on the final shootout races and in the decider Copper snatched the holeshot. When Purvis went to pass him for the win, he stalled the bike, leaving his teammate Connolly to finish 2nd. The win gave Cooper the two extra points he needed to take the overall podium top step.
“I’d be lying if I said I was comfortable with Max not taking the clean sweep, as I thought we could pull it off. It came very close and Max just ran out of steam towards the later part of the day. Certainly speed was no issue and I feel like we’ve done a great job with his YZ450,” Coppins says.
The Altherm JCR Yamaha riders’ goal for the season-opening event at Taupo’s Digger McEwen Park was “to do well and dominate.”
“Cole and Brodie were super strong with Cole winning his Junior and Senior races and Brodie taking out MX2. He also jumped on a Yamaha YZ450 to win the Bell Dirt Sprints on Saturday evening. Both those guys are on top of their game at the moment and stamped their authority. In my opinion, they’ve raised the level for the coming season.”
“With Maximus, we knew he was coming in slightly unprepared, as he works big hours as a contractor for his father, driving heavy machinery. He runs a slightly different programme to the other guys as he’s been really busy working over winter. We know there’s more to come from Max and how strong his work ethic is for training. It puts a fire in his belly and he always peaks in time for the Woodville GP at the end of January - then he carries that fitness through the national motocross champs’ four rounds.”
Purvis says: “I had some good laps here and there and felt pretty good on the bike but lacked the fitness.”
Returning to racing in New Zealand after a strong showing at the Motocross of Nations in the United States, Connolly “loved every minute of the [MX Fest] weekend” where he also finished an impressive second in the Huka Honda Shootout.
“My bike was awesome all day,” he says.
Davies enjoyed doing double duties in the Junior racing on Saturday, then the Senior class on Sunday.
“On Saturday I won all the motos in the 125cc 15 to 16yrs class and felt good on the bike, however I needed to work on my starts. On Sunday, I raced the 125cc class and had great starts. My YZ125 was awesome and I won all the motos,” he says.
The multi-talented 15-year-old heads to Adelaide this weekend to ride in the Australian Supercross Series’ second round. Next month he will also contest the third and fourth rounds.
Coppins says Yamaha ambassador Ben Townley deserves a big mention for his mentoring and preparation work with Connolly and Davies.
“Anyone watching them at MX Fest could see the benefits they’ve had from working with Ben.”
He adds that the MX Fest was not only a great season-starting event for the Altherm JCR Yamaha team but also the wider Yamaha group across the junior, vet and women’s classes. On Saturday, Levi Townley won the 12-16 years 85cc/150cc class, while his brother and fellow Yamaha-supported rider Jaggar was 3rd in both the 8-11 years 85cc, and 8-11 years Pro 65cc class.
On Saturday, Craig Stevens Motorcycles-supported rider Cody Griffiths was 2nd behind Davies in the 15-16 years 125cc class. Racing in the Junior Women’s classes, Yamaha riders Breanna Rodgers and Griffiths’ sister Mikayla were 2nd and 3rd respectively, while Amie Roberts took her YZ250F to 3rd in the Senior Womens’ class.
Coppins congratulated all the other Yamaha riders at MX Fest and thanked them for their support. “It was great to see so many riders representing their dealers and the brand so professionally.”
While the Altherm JCR Yamaha team now looks ahead to the Whakatane Summercross at the end of December, there will be some major changes effective immediately after it. Connolly’s performance at the Motocross at Nations attracted the attention of an international team and he received an offer that was too good to turn down.
Coppins says: “Even though it's with a different manufacturer, we would like to release Brodie and have come to an agreement where we will do so on December 31.Whakatane Summercross is his final contracted ride with Altherm JCR Yamaha, then he will move across to another brand in Australia from January 1.”
“We’ve managed to negotiate the release smoothly, as it was too good an opportunity to hold him back from. Ben [Townley] and I have worked hard mentoring him and bringing him along. Right now he’s in the best form he’s ever been in and we are very proud to have taken him to this point. Our ethos as a team is to always try to develop riders internationally. If we can’t retain them at Yamaha, which is our goal, we are prepared to let them go.”
Connolly’s replacement will be versatile rider James Scott, from Oparau, who has had high levels of success across motocross, cross-country and enduro disciplines.
“He’s a talented rider and I’ve wanted to work with him for some time but it hasn’t been possible. So finally that’s worked out. James will be a great asset to the Altherm JCR Yamaha team. I really like his values and think he’s going to fit in well,” Coppins says.
Scott and Connolly will both race Yamaha YZ250Fs in the MX2 class at Whakatane. Coppins says he’s happy with where the Altherm JCR Yamaha team is at and he has plenty of data from the weekend’s event provided by Japanese Yamaha mechanic Tsuyoshi Hashimoto.
“It means we’ve got some good information from MX Fest and have now got a busy end of the year just improving in a few areas around the riders and also around the bikes. On that note, we’d like to thank the mechanics for their hard work and efforts over the weekend. It has been a massive build up, especially for Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Nabe), who is employed full time by the team, so we are grateful to him along with the other mechanics Tamas Toth, Luke Henry and also our helper Joe Davis,” Coppins concludes.