News Release
Hawera's Daryl Hurley Ready to Begin his Australian Assault
19 March 2008
When Hawera’s Daryl Hurley showed up to race at the Auckland Motocross Championships at Harrisville, just south of Pukekohe on Sunday, all bets were hurriedly whipped off the table.
Who could beat the Suzuki rider who had dominated all summer?
Hurley won the national 500cc motocross title last November and then backed that up with a glorious string of wins to add the national open class supercross crown to his stuffed trophy cabinet.
What’s more, the 32-year-old Kiwi international had shown up on Sunday with the new fuel-injected Suzuki RM-Z450, a bike that would surely give him an unfair advantage anyway.
But Hurley did have a fight on his hands in the day’s first 500cc race as he was caught in traffic at the start and had to battle back through the field, eventually beaten to the chequered flag by former world No.2 Darryl King.
Hurley made no mistake of the two races that followed, winning both convincingly, to end the day a safe five points ahead of King, with Cambridge rider Mike Cotter taking the third step on the podium.
Winning the day was just boost Hurley needed as he now switches focus to his international campaign and attempts to win back the Australian open class motocross title he last held in 2005.
He failed to defend it when he became injured in 2006 and injury again slowed him in 2007, although he still managed to finish runner-up (behind Daniel Reardon), and he is determined to reclaim the main prize across the Tasman in 2008.
Judging by his form at the weekend, he’d well on track.
“It was a good warm-up for me with the Australian Motocross Championships my next big mission. I’m off to Australia this week to do some testing on the bike and then I return to race at the annual King of the Mountain Motocross, near my home-town in Taranaki in a fortnight (March 30).
“I’m looking forward to that race too. I always love racing at home.
“The bike performed brilliantly today. I’m really looking forward to taking the fuel-injected RM-Z450 into battle at the King of the Mountain and in Australia too.”
Meanwhile, fellow Suzuki star Tom Managh (Wanganui) finished 2-1-1 in the junior 12-14 years’ 125cc class the day before, putting him well on track for his own mission for 2008 too … to win the national junior title at the three-day national junior championships near Otorohanga in April.
Hurley and the crew of Team Suzuki thank their sponsors: Suzuki, Shift, Scott, Elf, Bridgestone, Asplundh, ilabb, Total Paints, PPG, DID, Tag Metals, Alpinestars Boots, Pro Circuit, One Industries, Trooper Helmets, Acerbis, E-Z up, JT Sprockets, Talon Hubs, Vortex Ignitions, Giltrap Prestige.
