The 2024 New Zealand Motocross Championships
CAPTION: All the pieces are now coming together for a glorious Yamaha-sponsored national motocross championships season in 2024. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
DECEMBER 13, 2023: The 2024 New Zealand Motocross Championships season is still a few weeks away now from kick-off, but already the motorcycling community is starting to fizz with eager anticipation.
With Yamaha Motor New Zealand coming on board as naming-rights sponsor, Motorcycling New Zealand has already ticked off a key element in its preparations for the four-round national series, due to begin near Rotorua on February 3, 2024.
The organisation can now focus on getting it all set-up and polished for another jam-packed programme of top-class racing.
Yamaha Motor New Zealand General Manager Alan Petrie says it is great to be partnering with Motorcycling New Zealand again.
“We last sponsored the New Zealand Motocross Championships in 2020 and given the suitability of our Yamaha motorcycle range to motocross racing and our commitment to fostering the stars of the future, we are thrilled to be back on board.”
In addition to Yamaha, other key financial backers for the upcoming season include Fox, Pirelli, Alpinestars and Motomuck, offering support to the popular annual series.
The 2024 Yamaha New Zealand Senior Motocross Championships will also see the YZ65 Cup races for juniors staged as a component of the Pukekohe-based third round of the senior series, at Harrisville, on March 23.
Yamaha Motor New Zealand Motorsport Manager Josh Coppins says: “We are really excited to have that class running again.
“It shows Yamaha’s commitment to the series and the sport through providing the pathway for our bLU cRU riders to start at the grass roots level and that’s where the YZ65 Cup is so important.”
It should also be a sight to behold at all the rounds to see all the Yamaha competitors together, pitting alongside the high-profile Altherm JCR Yamaha factory team truck and awnings.
Coppins adds: “It’s exciting to have Yamaha involved and contributing to the sport in general. It’s important that we work together with the federation and the clubs to lift the level of the championship and help where needed.
“Thanks to Yamaha for stepping up and we are looking forward to seeing our great branding track side from February.”
Motorcycling New Zealand motocross commissioner Sonia Cloke, from Taranaki, said she was thrilled to be able to report the sponsorship backing for the series.
“I am so proud of how these sponsors have come together, some of them competing brands, and they have shown that they all recognise the value and significance of this series of events.
“The current MNZ Motocross Commission has only come together at short notice, relatively late in the piece, but it has been working well as a unit and we are able now to make it all happen in 2024.”
The national series attracts riders from the length and breadth of the country and often draws in international competitors as well, with eventual winners, or runners-up in the various categories regularly going on to represent professional teams, or their country, in overseas competitions.
The depth of talent in the sport in New Zealand is amazing and has produced several world champions over the years, including four-time and current women’s world champion Courtney Duncan, from Otago.
2024 Yamaha Motor NZ Motocross Championships calendar:
Round 1, Rotorua, February 3, 2024
Round 2, Balclutha, February 25, 2024
Round 3, Pukekohe, March 23, 2024
Round 4, Taranaki, April 13, 2024
Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com