A somewhat depleted Altherm JCR Yamaha team did the best it could with its remaining riders at Saturday's penultimate 2025 Yamaha Motocross Championship round, hosted by the Pukekohe Motorcycle Club.
MX1 rider, Mangakino’s Maximus Purvis’ resilience was put to the ultimate test as he rode through a rib injury he has been carrying for the past 10 days. Incredibly, he battled on to a 3-1-4 results set that minimised the damage to his championship lead and saw him finish up third for the round at the Mr Motorcycles Raceway.
“The third round wasn’t the best but I still have a little points buffer [of 13 points]. My starts weren’t the best and I did what I could for the day. I will be coming out at the next round a lot better than this weekend,” Purvis promised.
Team Manager Josh Coppins described Saturday as a “tough day for us.”
“Maximus’ rib injury meant he found it very difficult to ride to his usual high potential. He still had the pace and still could have won but he made a crucial mistake in the third moto where he crashed and damaged the bike. At that point he had to just bring it home.”
“There’s another week of recovery for him and I’m sure he will be a lot better come the final in Rotorua. It’s a track he's very good on, so we will try to manage that the best we can. We’ve had so much success in the past and we were sitting in a good position so this is new territory. We are going to have to dig deep and come out strong in the final round which I’m sure we will,” Coppins says.
The Altherm JCR Yamaha team received the not unexpected but still unwelcome news that its MX2 rider James Scott’s knee injury sustained at the second round, was indeed serious.
“James had an MRI last week after Rotorua and he has surgery booked this month to repair a ruptured ACL. He will be out for around nine months doing rehab. He was there yesterday supporting the team, which was good to see,” Coppins says.
“Our team has been somewhat decimated in the past couple of weeks, with the Townley family moving to France for Levi to race over there, James got injured and then Maximus leaves for Australia the Monday after Rotorua, so we will have to look to restock.”
“It’s a product of having so much success that our riders are heading off to do international duties.”
Coppins credited the Yamaha-supported bLU cRU riders Flynn Watts, who had a break-through second place overall in the MX2 class on his Yamaha YZ250F and leads the Under 19 championship, and Jack Elingham, who was second in the 125cc class, for their strong performances.
The team has also been supporting two Japanese riders from Yamaha Motor Corporation in Japan. Unfortunately for Souya Nakajima, a fractured thumb incurred on Saturday will mean he can’t compete at the final round.
The YZ65 Cup racing was a big success, with lots of youngsters enjoying this racing format.
* Levi Townley’s first international event for 2025 will be in the EMX125 support class at the MXGP Castilla La Mancha in Spain this Sunday. The MXGP website has a link to MXGP TV where fans can pay to purchase live race viewing online.
NZMX CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND THREE) RESULTS:
MX1
1st Josiah Natzke – 69
2nd Hamish Harwood – 67
3rd Maximus Purvis (YZ450) – 63
MX2
1st Cody Cooper – 60
2nd Flynn Watts – 55
3rd Hayden Smith – 55
9th Junya Tanaka (YZ250F) – 57
10th Wills Harvey (YZ250F) – 34
15th Souya Nakajima (YZ250F) – 77
MX125
1st Hayden Draper – 75
2nd Jack Ellingham (YZ125) – 64
3rd Delton Manson – 58
Under 19
1st Flynn Watts (YZ250F) - 72
2nd Hayden Draper – 67
3rd Wills Harvey (YZ250F) – 60
Women’s
1st Karaitiana Horne – 75
2nd Amie Roberts (YZ250F) – 58
3rd Mikayla Griffiths (YZ250F) – 53
MX3
1st Travis Taylor – 72
2nd Mitchel Gleeson – 58
3rd Mokey Vining – 55
NZMX CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND ONE, TWO AND THREE) RESULTS:
MX1
1st Maximus Purvis (YZ450) – 210
2nd Josiah Natzke – 197
3rd Hamish Harwood – 190
MX2
1st Madoc Dixon – 179
2nd Cobie Bourke – 175
3rd Hayden Smith – 147
4th Flynn Watts (YZ250F) – 137
7th James Scott (YZ250F) – 112
10th Souya Nakajima (YZ250F) – 96
11th Junya Tanaka (YZ250F) – 92
14th Wills Harvey (YZ250F) – 64
MX125
1st Hayden Draper – 206
2nd Jack Ellingham (YZ125) – 174
3rd Delton Manson – 158
Under 19
1st Flynn Watts (YZ250F) – 197
2nd Hayden Draper – 174
3rd Wills Harvey (YZ250F) – 163
Women’s
1st Karaitiana Horne – 210
2nd Taylah McCutcheon – 191
3rd Mikayla Griffiths (YZ250F) – 169
5th Amie Roberts (YZ250F) – 160
MX3
1st Travis Taylor – 222
2nd Mitchel Gleeson – 170
3rd Seaton Head – 137
*Words by Catherine Pattison