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Another - Andy McGechan: Photo.
There is no shortage of young Kiwi talent. (Who knows, Kiwis may be to Motorcycle Sport as it is to the world of Triathlons.) Another youngster to watch for is Kirk Bezzant, a 16 year old from the rural NZ town of Cambridge
Kirk, supported by Mr Motorcycles in Pukekohe has recently returned from Europe having competed in this years FIM World Junior Motocross Championships held in Latvia.
He traveled with fellow Kiwi’s to obtain experience against Junior riders from around the world, the NZ contingent took in three local events acclimatizing to the conditions and honing there race fitness in preparation for the big event, which was held on the 18th of July.
Being of good Country Boy stock Kirk who considered himself somewhat of an underdog actually really impressed the locals with his dogged determination and ended up qualifying 16th.
Race day saw Kirk casual with nothing to lose and I’ll do my best attitude finding that a get off doesn’t make for good results, finishing 32nd in race 1.
Race two and Kirk pinned his ears back got a good start and was able to run up around 11 to 15th for a fair duration of the race, the track conditions and the race length saw Kirk fade back a little into 17th .
This was a fantastic result considering and it meant that Kirk scored International points, when combined with his race 1 result he had achieved 24th overall.
To put this into perspective many New Zealanders have made the trip to the World Juniors in Europe and it is not unusual to come home without even qualifying to race.
The pace at this event is very fast with several riders being within seconds of the cut-off time, it has been a long time since a rider from NZ gained International points.
Kirk is fairly keen now that he is home to show off the new skills he has learnt from his European experience and to build up the superior fitness level that is required to run with the best in the World, as he says that is the major difference.
Kirk at a club day last weekend decided to borrow his brother's KX250-F for a quick ride. It was like watching a seasoned senior, his corner speed and aggressive style showed that he had moved up a big notch.
