Oparau’s James Scott has hit his stride with the Altherm JCR Yamaha team, as Saturday’s MX2 overall win at the Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships’ openign round near Rotorua, saw him notch up his first national victory.

James is certainly on fire this season, having emerged as the class victor after MX Fest, Summercross, Woodville GP and now the first national round.

The groundwork the team have put in with him since he joined Altherm JCR Yamaha at the start of the 2023 season, is now paying dividends, Team Manager Josh Coppins believes.

“We are really reaping the rewards with James now. He hasn’t lost any race meetings that he’s attended for us this season and he’s on a good roll," says Josh.

"We’ve been working hard towards meeting his potential and the motos in Rotorua were getting close to his best performances for us."

James Scott has won the MX2 class at MX Fest, Summercross, Woodville GP and now the first national motocross round near Rotorua on Saturday. Photo: Phil Smith/CLMintie Pix.

James displayed his trademark consistency with his 1-2-2 results giving him the red plate when the three motos wrapped up on Saturday.

“I felt like I made good steps in my riding from Woodville, with qualifying fastest, three good starts and a race win. I really liked the track, it was super technical and rutty, which seemed to suit me,” says James.

Scott’s rivals won’t get any respite at the second national round at the end of the month, as the Altherm JCR Yamaha mechanics have ordered some upgrades for his YZ250F that will be fitted before its next competitive outing.

“James just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and put himself in good positions and good things will keep happening for him,”says Josh.

Australian Yamaha rider Jed Beaton made his nationals debut for the Altherm JCR Yamaha team and after a shaky start showed his potential. Riding in what was typical ‘four seasons in one day’ New Zealand weather, Jed crashed the first moto’s opening lap.

“It was the muddiest race of the day and he rode from last to fifth, with heavy rain creating treacherous conditions, which made it quite tricky,” says Josh.

Altherm JCR Yamaha’s MX1 rider Jed Beaton won the third moto at the Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championship’s opening round on Saturday. Photo: Phil Smith/CLMintie Pix.

Jed got off to a better start in the second race and sat on holeshot-earner Hamish Harwood for the 20-minute moto looking to make a pass but couldn’t pull one off.

“In the third race, I pretty much had the holeshot but got passed around the outside on the first turn and [Harwood] had the inside coming into the second turn," says Jed.

"I was in second for half the first lap and made the pass for first and got a pretty comfortable gap and rode my own race from there on out."

He rode the Yamaha YZ450 for the first time last weekend in Woodville but before then had not raced since August, however by the end of Saturday, Jed was starting to feel like he was gelling with the Yamaha YZ450.

After winning the third race by just over 10 seconds, he got a taste for the clean air and will be focused on getting out in front early on at the up-coming Balclutha round.

Josh says there were plenty of learnings from both sides in Rotorua.

“Jed is on a new bike and we are still learning that bike. As a team we need to be better. We made a couple of mistakes for Jed and we should've made an adjustment to the bike earlier.

“He’s got some homework to take back to Australia to knuckle down on in between rounds. His riding is good but we will work on race management and making sure he is putting himself in the right position and executing.”

Australian Jed Beaton experiences a muddy Kiwi track as he powers around corner at the Rotorua nationals round on his Yamaha YZ450. Photo: Phil Smith/CLMintie Pix.

Altherm JCR Yamaha supported rider Wills Harvey, of Nelson, claimed the MX125cc class title in what was his second senior class win, after victory at Woodville last weekend.

After a recent bout with a gastro bug which took down nearly the entire team the week before the Rotorua round, the Altherm JCR Yamaha crew are looking forward to getting back to full health for round two, in two weeks’ time at Balclutha, on February 25.

The Yamaha-sponsored series then takes the riders back up to the North Island again, with Pukekohe hosting round three at Harrisville, on March 23.

The fourth and final round is set for the Barrett Road facility on the outskirts of New Plymouth on April 13.

NZMX CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND ONE RESULTS:

MX1

1st Hamish Harwood – 72

2nd Josiah Natzke – 64

3rd Jed Beaton (YZ450) – 61

MX2

1st James Scott (YZ250F) – 69

2nd Caleb Ward – 65

3rd Cody Cooper – 63

MX125

1st Wills Harvey (YZ125) – 72

2nd Seth Morrow – 63

3rd Reuben Smith – 57

NZMX CHAMPIONSHIP OVERALL RESULTS (R1):

MX1

1st Hamish Harwood – 72

2nd Josiah Natzke – 64

3rd Jed Beaton (YZ450) – 61

MX2

1st James Scott (YZ250F) – 69

2nd Caleb Ward – 65

3rd Cody Cooper – 63

MX125

1st Wills Harvey (YZ125) – 72

2nd Seth Morrow – 63

3rd Reuben Smith – 57

2023/24 ALTHERM JCR YAMAHA CONTRACTED RACING CALENDAR

21st & 22nd October 2023 – MX Fest (Taupo)

29th & 30th December 2023 – Summercross (Whakatane)
27th & 28th January 2024 – Woodville GP (Woodville)
3rd February 2024 – R1 NZMX Nationals (Rotorua)

25th February 2024 – R2 NZMX Nationals (Balclutha)

23rd March 2024 – R3 NZMX Nationals (Pukekohe)

13th April 2024 – R4 NZMX Nationals (Taranaki)

2023/24 ALTHERM JCR YAMAHA ACTIVATIONS CALENDAR

27th to 29th October 2023 – bLUcRU Kids Camp (Rotorua)

11th November 2023 – Yamaha Women’s Off-Road Ride Day (Rotorua)

17th to 19th November 2023 – bLUcRU Kids Camp (Glen Murray)

12th to 14th January 2024 – bLUcRU Kids Camp (Oparau)

3rd to 7th February 2024 – Yamaha Adventure Ride (Picton to Invercargill)

15th to 17th March 2024 – bLUcRU Kids Camp (Gore)