The motocross season-opening MX Fest at Taupo over Labour Weekend has proved to be the ideal hit out for the Altherm JCR Yamaha team, with its riders either winning their classes, or achieving a podium.

There were several changes to the team, with defending national MX1 champion Maximus Purvis recovering from knee surgery and accomplished cross country rider Tommy Watts taking his place.

The other addition to the team was the familiar figure of Ben Townley, who after a successful international riding career, has recently focused his attention on furthering the Altherm JCR Yamaha riders’ racing capabilities.

After enjoying riding a Yamaha YZ125 at club events, Tauranga’s Townley decided to enter the MX Fest in this class.

Altherm JCR Yamaha Team Manager Josh Coppins says it was a successful weekend for the team’s riders, who were all excited to get the racing underway after what always feels like a long off-season.

“Saturday’s results started the weekend off well, with our Yamaha juniors Levi Townley winning the 12-16 years’ 85cc/150cc class and his brother Jaggar topping the 8-11 years’ 85cc class. Wills Harvey claimed the 15-16 years’ 125cc class win and then not to be outdone by his sons, Ben Townley won the nighttime dirt sprints.”

The following day’s racing saw similarly impressive outcomes achieved, with the Altherm JCR Yamaha riders victorious in five from seven classes.

In his debut outing for the Altherm JCR Yamaha motocross team, Watts demonstrated his versatility, as he applied his cross country riding talents to the Digger McEwen Motorcycle Park track.

Currently based in Tauranga, where he works for Townley, Watts usually rides for the PWR Yamaha enduro and cross country teams, but this season will see him also on board a Yamaha YZ450 motocross bike.

“It was awesome to have my first hit out with the Altherm JCR Yamaha motocross team and good to get a gauge of where I’m at and what I need to work on with Ben and Josh going forward,” Watts says.

“The first two motos I felt like I was not as strong as I could have been. I wasn’t that comfy and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. Then by moto 3 and the shootout, where I finished runner-up in both, I felt like I was really in my groove and riding like I normally do.”

The shootout started with the top riders from each of the 125cc, MX2 and MX1 classes and culled out the slowest riders each time.

The competition started with 40 riders, which was cut to 20 then 10, and then six, until eventually there were just three riders in the final outing.

Watts will compete in the three-round cross country nationals over November and early December before he switches back to motocross for the SummerX event later that month and for the rest of the season.

Coppins says Watts did an “amazing job to finish third in MX1”.

Oparau’s James Scott signalled clearly that he is going to be a dominant force in MX2 this upcoming season by winning the category on his Yamaha YZ250F.

After qualifying first, he says he “didn’t get the best start and lost rhythm a little bit” in the opening moto to finish second.

A holeshot and moto 2 race win, combined with a runner-up result in the third race, gave him enough points for the overall victory.

In the one-lap shootout, which was “all about the starts,” Scott was pleased to finish third and the first 250cc bike, against the 450cc riders.

His goals for the 2023/2024 season are to win the MX2 nationals,  stay healthy and get selected for New Zealand’s Motocross of Nations and International Six Days of Enduro teams.

Townley says MX Fest was “a great weekend for our family and we had a blast racing in Taupo.”

“The boys [Levi and Jaggar] did really well on Saturday and got some great results - both winning a class each in the 85s. I was able to also win the 125cc class on the Sunday.”

Harvey backed up his win on Saturday in the Junior section, to finish runner-up behind Townley.

Townley says it had been a long time since he last raced a 125cc bike and he had a lot of fun. “I’ve been really enjoying riding the Yamaha YZ125 and after doing a few club events, I decided I’d line up and have a rip at Taupo, which I haven’t done in many years and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Hamilton’s Amie Roberts couldn’t have started her season in the Senior Women’s category any better, with three wins from three.

“It was a really good weekend. I was a bit disappointed with the numbers in the Senior Women’s class but I am super happy to win all three races and take the overall win for the day. I have a lot to work on before the nationals commence but it was a great start to the season after a six-month break off the bike. I look forward to the next meeting at SummerX in December,” she says.

Darren Capill rounded out the top results, taking his Yamaha YZ450 to first place in the Vets 45 years + category.

Coppins summarises: “Overall I don’t think we could have asked for much better from MX Fest, although we do have some areas we can improve on as a team. We have a new sponsor Hughes Transport that we would like to welcome aboard. They came along to watch over the weekend as well, so it was great to have them as guests and we appreciate their support.”

“I’ve given the riders some goals to work on for the next events and we’re all looking forward to SummerX at the end of December, followed by the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in late January, then the four-round nationals, which kick off in Rotorua in February.”

Yamaha’s summer activations begin this weekend, with the season’s first Yamaha bLUcRU kids camp kicking off at DirtWorld in Rotorua. It will be followed by a postponed MX Masterclass in Hawkes Bay the following weekend.

Then on November 11, the very first Women’s Off-Road Ride Day will be held at DirtWorld.