Reigning senior champion is 26-year-old Raglan farmer Jason Dickey, the outright winner when the series was last held in 2019. He is sidelined with an ankle injury and unable to defend his crown. Likewise for Taupōs three-time former champion Brad Groombridge, who has a knee injury after he crashed during the motocross nationals event near Rotorua on Sunday. However, Whanganui s Seth Reardon, the runner-up in 2019, is expected to line up on Sunday, alongside Palmerston North s 2015 national champion Paul Whibley, Wairoa s Tommy Watts, Pahīatua s Charles Alabaster, Raglan s Brandon Given, Hamilton s Phil Goodwright and Andrew Charleston, Te Kauwhata s Jacob Brown and Rotorua s Callum Dudson.
Tuesday, 23 February 2021, 11:54 am
New Zealand s elite cross-country racers will be
back in business this weekend and, after a 2020 season
ruined by a pesky virus, the 2021 series is sure to be a
ripper.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced organisers to
write off the 2020 Yamaha-sponsored New Zealand
Cross-country Championships, just a week after the
competition had kicked off in the Rangitikei region last
February and, with the country now under only Level One
restrictions, riders will be eager to make a welcome return
to the exact same venue for the start of the 2021 series
this Sunday.
The four-round series kicks off on
farmland near Marton on Sunday, with a line-up that s likely