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MARCH 20, 2007: The new wave has just hit the beach.
As Yamaha’s Darryll King eases into semi-retirement, protégé Hamish Dobbyn shows he’s ready to pick up the mantle.
Warkworth’s Dobbyn (Yamaha YZF250) blasted his way to first-equal at the opening round of Australia’s new Yamaha MX National Development Series which kicked off at Newry, Victoria, at the weekend.
Dobbyn stunned onlookers as he battled with one of Australia’s bright young hopes for the future, Queensland’s Tye Simmonds (KTM), on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Kiwi hero finished the day 1-2 in his two races but lost the nod for the overall on a countback, Simmonds’ 2-1 results giving him that honour by virtue of his better result in the second race.
Throughout the day, Dobbyn showed up on the lap charts as the faster of the two.
“I holeshot the first race but then I fell off,” Dobbyn said from Australia. “I lost the front end (of the bike) but then I caught up to him (Simmonds) and passed him for the lead in the very same corner I had crashed at earlier.
“It wasn’t such a good start to the next race because I clipped the back wheel of another rider at the first corner and went down hard. I was the last rider to get away and at least eight seconds behind the lead. But then I caught up to third place by the end of the first lap.
“With two laps to go, I passed Simmonds for the lead but then I made a stupid mistake and lost the front end again, the wheel washing out on me on a high-speed corner. I had to settle for second,” he explained.
“I was quicker than Tye in both races. I reckon it because of the great training I’ve had with Harry Everts and Darryll King.”
Waikato’s King is a two-time former world No.2 and a three-time Australian motocross champion, not to mention the winner of New Zealand titles too numerous to list, and, at age 37, considers the time is right to concentrate on mentoring up-and-comers such as Dobbyn.
King (Hamilton) operates a popular motocross training school and travels the country conducting classes.
