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JANUARY 1, 2008: They may be Suzuki team-mates but there are also fireworks between Luke Burkhart and Scotty Columb when the two men get together on a race track.
The two Team Suzuki stars went head-to-head at the weekend’s 36th annual Whakatane Summercross and they’ll fight each other tooth and nail again over the following few weeks when they both tackle the Lites class at the four-round New Zealand Supercross Championships.
Burkhart and Columb finished 1-2 in the MX2 class at the big Summercross event near Whakatane at the weekend, the pair between them sharing wins in all three races with an improving Burkhart eventually coming out on top by a flattering 10 points.
In his first event since returning home from an interrupted season racing the world championships in Europe, Columb (Suzuki RM-Z250) comfortably won the day’s first MX2 race and looked set to dominate the class.
Battling in traffic among some of New Zealand’s elite, Burkhart, on an identical RM-Z250, finished third.
But, while Columb may have been savouring his early success, he probably hadn’t counted on the gritty resilience of Burkhart, a man still smarting from his painful exit while leading the New Zealand Motocross Championships a month earlier.
Now fully recovered from the crash that wrecked his national title bid, Burkhart fought back to win the next two races at Whakatane and take the overall win.
“I didn’t expect so much from myself actually,” said the 23-year-old Burkhart afterwards. “I have not spent much time on a bike since my accident. Getting over the disappointment (of not winning the national title) was hard for me to deal with too. But coming here and winning was a great feeling.”
Also a long time off a bike, it was a philosophical Columb who reviewed his weekend’s work at Whakatane.
“I have not been on a bike since July, so winning the first race was good and then coming from behind to take second in the next race was good too,” said Columb.
“It was the third race that really cost me,” said the 24-year-old South Islander.
“I was behind Luke and tried to dive up the inside of him but I lost the rear wheel and crashed. I was dead last by the time I got going again. I got back to within the top 10 when I crashed again. I lost my way in the dust, overshot a corner and hit a tree.
“I was happy to settle for eighth place after that.”
The two men now prepare to face each other again in the national supercross (stadium motocross) series which kicks off near Motueka on Saturday night.
Burkhart is the reigning open class supercross champion but won’t defend that crown, instead dropping back to the Lites (small bike) class to take on the defending champion there, his Suzuki team-mate Columb.
It is sure to be fiery at Motueka’s Rat Track facility on Saturday night with these two in opposition.
Round two is at Tokoroa a fortnight later (January 19), with round three in a new venue at the TelstraClear Events Centre, Manukau, on February 16 and the final inside the Cook’s Gardens arena in Wanganui on March 1.
Handling the open class chores for Suzuki will be former national supercross champion Daryl Hurley, the current national 500cc motocross champion who also had a sensational day as he warmed up for the series at Whakatane at the weekend.
Hurley (Suzuki RM-Z450) was the only rider able to challenge world No.3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha) at the Summercross, finishing close behind an unbeaten Coppins in all three MX1 outings.
Hurley won’t have to concern himself with Coppins at Motueka this Saturday night as Coppins instead opts to take on Burkhart and Columb in the Lites class. This will be Coppins’ only supercross outing in New Zealand this summer.
Hurley, Burkhart, Columb and the crew of Team Suzuki thank their sponsors: Suzuki, Shift, Scott, Elf, Bridgestone, Asplundh, ilabb, Total Paints, PPG, DID, Tag Metals, Alpinestars Boots, Pro Circuit, One Industries, Trooper Helmets, Acerbis, E-Z up, JT Sprockets, Talon Hubs, Vortex Ignitions.
