Hawera’s Daryl Hurley did more than just survive his first race in nearly a year, he won it.
The 34-year-old Suzuki bike dealer from Hawera was making his comeback from painful injury at the Taranaki Motocross Championships near New Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.
The Kiwi international was still very concerned that, if he put a foot wrong, he would aggravate his heel injury and further prolong his recovery but, not only did the Action Suzuki star survive but he also won the day in his MX2 (250cc) class and even came very close to winning the all-in feature race as well.
“To come back from injury and win my class ... that’s pretty good”, said Hurley in perfect understatement.
“I still need further surgery in May and I had a bit of pain today but, I guess, adrenaline takes some of that pain away.
“I’d like to ride the nationals but we’ll still have to see how everything feels by then. If I’m struggling when the nationals kick off (near Timaru) in February, then it will be pointless me trying to race, but I passed the first test today. My fitness is actually better than I thought it would be.”
Among the stars who came out to play on Saturday was fellow Taranaki rider Brad Groombridge – who may well have won the MX2 class from his employer at Hawera’s Action Suzuki, Hurley, if he had not instead crashed spectacularly in the day’s final race.
Groombridge eventually had to settle for finishing runner-up in the MX2 class although he did demonstrate early in the day that he will be a real force in the MX2 class when the New Zealand Motocross Championships kick off in Timaru in February.
For Further Information Contact
Simon Meade
Motorcycle Sales Manager
E simon@suzuki.co.nz
