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File photo - Mason Phillips nailed his first big win at the Whakatane Summercross over the Christmas/ New Year break.
Yamaha whirlwinds Mason Phillips and Damien King made the most of their trips from the North Island to the South Island at the weekend, racing to the forefront in both main classes at the opening two rounds of the New Zealand Supercross Championships on Saturday and Sunday nights. The super fit sportsmen were the only riders to tackle two classes and both men now stand a good chance of achieving top three status in the stadium code this season.
While Kiwi Internationals Daryl Hurley and Josh Coppins may have dominated proceedings both nights, the two fulltime professionals each had to keep a look over their shoulders for hard-charging Subway Yamaha riders Phillips and King.
The 19-year-old Phillips, from Te Puke, had been racing the potent Yamaha YZF450 in the New Zealand Motocross Championships, finishing a creditable fourth, but was more than happy to wheel out the smaller YZF250 four-stroke and YZ250 two-stroke bikes for his supercross campaign. He will, however, return to the big bikes for the upcoming Mister Motocross series in Australia this season, and possibly the Australian supercross series too.
But, in the meantime, he's concentrating on the supercross scene and Phillips confesses he prefers the indoor racing over motocross because “it's in front of bigger crowds and I like the big jumps”. “Going from a four-stroke to a two-stroke is not a problem for me. I've been practicing hard on both bikes and find it easy to make the transition. I don't think about the differences any more.”
Phillips is fourth overall in the 125cc class, just one point behind third-ranked Scott Columb, of Queenstown, and is third overall in the 250cc class, just 13 points behind second-ranked Peter Broxholme, of Tauranga. “I didn't have a great couple of nights. I felt a bit flat,” he said, something he intends to put right next weekend.
Subway Yamaha team-mate King is sixth in the 125cc supercross standings and fourth in the 250cc standings.
The final round is in Tokoroa: this Saturday evening.
