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Photo - The Yamaha pair, Wellington's Jayden Jessup (#4) and Paraparaumu's Jesse Donnelly (#2) battle in the air space of Woodville
Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
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Yamaha NZ: Press Release.
You could be forgiven for thinking that Yamaha had sent a couple of stunt doubles along to the 44th annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville at the weekend. So close was the formation flying of Yamaha pair Jesse Donnelly and Jayden Jessup, you’d think the two young men were inseparable twins. They are very firm friends off the track but fierce rivals on it, a healthy rivalry that took Yamaha solidly to the forefront of the junior 125cc 12-14 years’ class at Woodville.
Gisborne’s Matt Hunt chimed in with a typically solid performance too, finishing fourth outright and giving Yamaha three of the top four places at the three-day meeting, billed as New Zealand’s biggest outside of the national championships. Although there was never more than a wheel-width between them all day, Paraparaumu’s Donnelly managed to stay unbeaten, finishing the day nine points ahead of his mate Jessup, the pair ensuring Yamaha was 1-2 in every race in their class at Woodville.
“But it was hard work out there,” said the 15-year-old Donnelly. “Jayden passed me a couple of times. But once I’d got dad to slow down the rebound on the suspension, it was a lot better. Dad’s been around a bit, so he knows his stuff,” said young Donnelly. “Nothing usually goes right for me at Woodville, until this year,” he grinned. “I was leading the class last year when I crashed in every race. I think I was trying too hard. “I just relaxed this year and let my Yamaha do its job. Every time I get on my Yamaha I improve with every ride. At the rate I’m improving, I’ll be world champion by this time next year,” he laughed.
Donnelly hopes to compete in Australia’s Roost Rookies series this year. He says he has never raced in Australia but fellow Kiwi Yamaha ace Lance Giles, who now lives on Australia’s Gold Cost, has told him what to expect.
In the meantime, Woodville signalled the last outing for Donnelly in the 12-14 years 125cc class. From now on he’s up against the older boys in the 15-16 division.
Donnelly’s father, Sean, is a former roadracing champion and now dabbles about himself with motocross, in the veterans’ class.
“I’ve just bought myself another Yamaha YZ450,” said the 44-year-old Sean. “It’s the fifth YZ in a row that I’ve bought for myself. I’m not at the sharp end of the veterans’ class but I’m happy with finishing 12th in my class at Woodville.”
While Donnelly junior and Jessup were running away with the junior 125cc class, Yamaha was also cleaning up in the junior 11-12, 85cc division.
Warkworth’s Hamish Dobbyn unbeaten in his three races. Mangakino’s Cameron Dillon was runner-up with Nelson’s Jared Guthrie (Yamaha) third, just two points behind.
Former Kiwi Lance Giles returned to the country of his birth to finish a strong second to Kirk Bezzant in the older 125cc age category, for 15 and 16-year-olds. Yamaha’s Giles also finished runner-up to Bezzant in the Champion of Champions one-off race at the end of the day, closely followed by fellow Yamaha man Bradley Wadsworth, giving the blue and white brand two of the top three spots.
In the senior ranks, the absence through injury of five-time former Woodville winner Darryll King was keenly felt but King’s younger brother Damien (Cambridge, Yamaha) made his presence felt. The Subway Yamaha rider finished third in the elite 500cc class, just four points behind his other brother, eight-time Woodville winner Shayne King. The day was won by Hawera’s Daryl Hurley.
