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November 26: It was mayhem at the first of two weekends of international supercross racing at Mystery Creek on Friday and Saturday nights.
Brought up on a regular diet of stadium motocross in their home country, the visiting United States foursome – Keith Johnson, Kelly Smith, Jason Thomas and Andy Harrington – quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the feature teams’ event on the two-night programme, the five-race New Zealand versus United States test series.
But they hadn’t counted on the talent and tenacity of the New Zealand foursome --New Plymouth brothers Darryll, Shayne and Damien King and Hawera’s Daryl Hurley.
Smith (KTM250) won the first two \"test match\" races on Saturday night but he was hounded throughout by Hurley (Suzuki RM250).
The 24-year-old Hurley, on the comeback after breaking his collarbone only a month earlier and also making his debut appearance for the Suzuki team, finished 2-2 for second overall, with Shayne King (KTM250) next best, finishing third and fourth in the two races.
Overall, the New Zealanders were trailing the American team by just four points heading into Saturday’s second night of racing and that’s when the heat was turned up by both sides.
The gung-ho Americans demonstrated their liking for the aggressive, physical nature of racing indoors and were not afraid to turn supercross into a full-contact sport. On several occasions the Kiwis came out second-best but, thanks to Hurley and Darryll King taking a win apiece on Saturday night, the New Zealand team snatched the points lead.
Then it all came unstuck for the Kiwis.
Hurley was the first to falter. A heavy landing tweaked the young professional’s weakened shoulder and he decided to withdraw to recover fully for his upcoming season in Australia.
Darryll King, the 500cc motocross world No.5, was keen to show he also had the talent to mix it with his fellow internationals at the supercross code but, ironically, it was a shock collision with his younger brother Shayne which ended his night.
While leading the weekend’s penultimate test match race, Darryll King’s foot slipped from his bike’s foot-peg as he launched from a jump, he landed awkwardly and was spat off into the trackside hay bales. His brother Shayne, already airborne and on a similar flight-path, had no chance to avoid landing on his prone brother and the pair ended in a tangled heap.
Darryll King was soon up but the race was stopped as medics rushed to assist Shayne King, trapped under his bike and not moving.
\"I was choking to death. My helmet strap was pulling back on my throat. I was blacking out,\" he said afterwards.
The Kiwi hopes were dashed, with both Hurley and Shayne King injured and Darryll King’s bike a mess, beyond repair.
The Kiwis led the Americans by 20 points heading into the deciding fifth and final race but, with domestic 125cc specialists Luke Burkhart (Masterton), Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) and Mark Penny (Te Awamutu) drafted in to fill some awfully big boots, the Americans seemed assured of stealing the overall win.
True to form, the Americans finished 1-2-3 and, although a spirited Burkhart snatched fourth spot from Harrington, that was all the visitors needed to narrowly claim the main prize 259 points to 256.
The New Zealanders now have a week to recover before facing another supercross test series, a tri-nations challenge against the same Americans and a team of Australia’s elite, at the same venue this coming weekend.
