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Suzuki ran away with the main prize at the annual Woodville Motocross Grand Prix last year but could not quite repeat the dose in 2006.
The racing was breakneck fast and furious but it was a case of close but not quite for Suzuki’s top men at the 45th annual Woodville event at the weekend.
Even before the weekend began, Honda’s Shayne King had won at Woodville more than any other rider in the event’s 45-year history and he made it look easy as he notched up win No.9 on Sunday.
But he was hounded all the way by Suzuki sensation Luke Burkhart (Suzuki RM-Z450) as the pair waged a fierce battle at the front of the 500cc field.
A couple of high-speed get-offs blunted the attack by Burkhart but he bravely fought back each time to give King his only real competition of the weekend.
With a spectacular spill in the day’s last 500cc race knocking the wind from his sails and sidelining him for several laps, Burkhart slipped to sixth in the overall standings, an unfair reflection of the speed and talent he had displayed.
Burkhart had been King’s only real threat, too, when the pair chased honours in the 250cc class at the National Championships late last year but Sunday’s big event was Burkhart’s first motocross experience on the new 450cc machine.
King’s open class experience is legendary – he won the 500cc world motocross crown 10 years ago – but Burkhart was every bit his equal at Woodville.
Runner-up in the 500cc class was Damien King (Yamaha) and Mike Cotter (Kawasaki) was third, while Te Awamutu’s Mark Penny rode his Suzuki RM-Z450 to fourth overall.
Burkhart now prepares for a tilt at the open class title in Australia, hoping to emulate the outstanding success of fellow Suzuki rider Daryl Hurley across the Tasman last year.
The man who won at Woodville last year, Hawera’s Hurley, was Australian No.1 last year but his preparations have been hampered by injury. He is not yet ready to race and was merely a spectator at Woodville on Sunday.
It was a similar story for Suzuki start Scott Columb in the 125cc class at Woodville.
Opotiki’s national No.1 Cody Cooper returned from his new Australian base to finish 1-2 in opening salvo of racing, with Columb finishing 2-1 to stay level with his Honda nemesis.
It came down to the final 125cc race of the day to decide the title and, after cut and thrust action around the track, Columb closed in to pounce late in the race. But suddenly Columb slowed with a mechanical problem, and he was forced to accept the No.2 spot for the day.
It was a bitter blow for Columb, who had dominated and won both the 125cc and open class supercross titles for Suzuki at the final round in Tokoroa the previous weekend.
“I’m gutted,” said Columb afterwards. “I missed a gear in the first race and that allowed Cooper to get away from me but I rode well to win the second race.
“We were playing with one another in that last race. I was watching him to see where I’d get him and was just starting to push when the gears went. I’m very disappointed.”
Woodville attracted a host of internationals again this year with Japan’s only world motocross champion Akira Watanabe (51) there as an observer, scouting for talent for his Japanese Suzuki motocross team.
The 1978 125cc world champion for Suzuki was particularly keen to have a look at 17-year-old Aucklander Blake Gillard and hinted that he was impressed enough with what he saw to offer him a position later this season.
Gillard, having his debut ride on the Suzuki RM-Z250, finished fifth overall in the hotly-contested 125cc class.
