The 2025 New Zealand Motocross Championships wrapped up at the weekend with an action-packed second visit to the Phillips’ farm track south-west of Rotorua.

It ended up with two repeat winners this year – Mangakino’s Maximus Purvis and Raetihi’s Karaitiana Horne – and also two first-time champions in Tauranga’s Madoc Dixon and Karaka’s Hayden Draper.

The national MX1 champion in 2023, Purvis had led the class from the start of the four-round series this year, which had kicked off near Tauranga in mid-February, but he came under heavy fire on Saturday from defending 2024 MX1 champion Hamish Harwood and returned Kiwi international Josiah Natzke.

However, Purvis stood firm and withstood the onslaught on Saturday.

Riding sensibly, Purvis finished 2-2-1 in his three races in this premier class at Taupo on Saturday, beaten to the top step of the day’s podium by West Auckland rider Harwood (who clocked in 1-1-2 results), but it was easily enough for Purvis to clinch the title overall for 2025, with Harwood second and Mount Maunganui’s Natzke third.

In the close-fought MX2 (250cc) class, Dixon was just four points ahead of nearest challenger Cobie Bourke at the start of the day in Rotorua and it would obviously go down to the wire.

Dixon’s 4-2-5 score-card at Rotorua meant he finished only fourth overall for the day, beaten by Opotiki’s multi-time former New Zealand champion Cody Cooper – the 41-year-old showing he still has the strength and talent to win at the top level – while Pukehina 18-year-old Flynn Watts finished runner-up and Taihape’s Hayden Smith was third overall on the day.

Fortunately for Dixon, he really only had to concern himself with staying ahead of Bourke at this final round, and his results meant he did just that and it was enough to give him the title by nine points from Bourke. Smith finished third overall for the series in this MX2 class.

Meanwhile, Watts was fourth for the series, but he did win the MX2 battle-within-a-battle for glory in the under-19 sub-category. 

In the chase for senior 125cc class honours, Draper notched a solid 3-3-2 scorecard at Rotorua to maintain his position at the top of the standings – although Auckland’s Jack Ellingham was on fire with a hat-trick of wins at Rotorua – and this was easily enough for Draper to clinch his first senior New Zealand crown.

Ellingham settled for overall runner-up, while third best in the 125cc class was rising young star Delton Manson, from Rotorua.

Draper had won the 12-13 years’ 85cc/150cc class title in the 2022 Zealand junior motocross championships, before going on to win the younger of the two 200-250cc classes in Australia last September.

Few could stick with Horne in the women’s class action.

Defending champion Horne won six of the 12 women’s races this season and was no worse than second in the others, finishing a whopping 46 points clear of eventual runner-up Mikayla Griffiths, from Taupo, and 60 points clear of third-ranked rider Amie Roberts, from Hamilton.

The national series attracts riders from the length and breadth of the country and this year has again drawn international competitors – several from Australia and Japan – with eventual winners, or runners-up in the various classes regularly going on to represent professional teams, or their country, in overseas competitions.

2025 New Zealand Senior Motocross Championships

Round 1, Saturday, Feb 15, 2025, Tauranga;

Round 2, Saturday Feb 22, 2025, Rotorua;

Round 3, Saturday, March 8, 2025, Pukekohe;

Round 4, Saturday, March 15, 2025, Rotorua.