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FEBRUARY 13, 2007: Subway Yamaha motocross team rider Damien King blitzed the field at the big annual Patetonga Valley Motocross Championships on Sunday.
The 30-year-old from Cambridge was too good for the talent-packed MX2 field, taking his Yamaha YZF250 to two wins and a second placing on the fast, dry and dusty course.
“I holeshot the first race and won it easily,” said King, his go-to-whoa performance totally justifying the big No.1 emblazoned on his blue and white four-stroke machine.
But he became embroiled in a tense battle with Rotorua’s Michael Phillips in the next outing and, while the two riders seemed locked together throughout the race, King could not quite push past as the chequered flag came out.
But that only seemed to fire him up and King came out hard in the third and final race, again taking an early lead and romping away with the win.
“It’s weird. I feel like there’s always a big target on my back when I have the No.1 on my bike,” said King. “Other riders see the No.1 and it makes them more determined to beat you.”
King’s elder brother Darryll must know that feeling too.
The 38-year-old Darryll King, national No.1 in both the 250cc and 500cc classes, had a largely disappointing weekend by his own high standards.
“I raced the veterans’ class on the Saturday (and won that easily ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Darren Capill) and was sort of relaxed. Then I saw (top Suzuki riders) Daryl Hurley and Scott Columb roll up on Sunday and I thought to myself ‘oh, I better put my race face on’. But I simply made too many mistakes and fell off a few times.
“I’m not making excuses though,” said Darryll King. “I just didn’t ride well enough on Sunday.”
Darryll King finished the day an unaccustomed fourth overall in the open class but is not pushing any panic buttons just yet.
“I still need to prove to myself that I’m good enough to continue racing in Australia this season,” said the three-time former Australian national champion. “But I can leave that decision up until the week before round one (in Victoria on April 15), so it’s not a problem.”
