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ACTION GOES UNDER LIGHTS AGAIN
Queenstown's Scott Columb (Suzuki), the 250cc champion coming back to defend his crown in 2010.
Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
That's the catch-phrase for this season's four-round New Zealand Supercross Championships, set to kick off in the South Island on January 6.
Motorcycling New Zealand Supercross co-commissioner Neil Ritchie, Palmerston North, said he was thrilled to report that Bay of Plenty's former American supercross champion Ben Townley would contest the series as he completes his final preparations before returning to racing in the United States.
The sparks are really expected to fly because Kawasaki's Townley is not the only headline act for this national series with several other Kiwi internationals, including Mount Maunganui pair Cody Cooper (Suzuki) and Mason Phillips (Kawasaki), Queenstown's Scott Columb (Suzuki), Hamilton's Jesse Wiki (Honda) and Christrchurch's Justin McDonald (Honda) also likely to be strong contenders.
The venues are Timaru (Wednesday, January 6), Motueka's Rat Track (Sunday, January 10), Tokoroa (Saturday, January 16) and, finally, at the Telstra Clear Events Centre, Manukau City, on January 23.
The opening round is at the Backflips Supercross Track, McKnight's property, 60 Landsborough Road, Timaru, and this new venue has already drawn strong praise from drawcard rider Townley, who has also been operating in an advisory capacity for the organisers.
"Ben (Townley) visited the track a couple of months ago and his first reaction was 'wow'. He was certainly impressed with what he saw," said Ritchie.
"He said it would match anything he'd seen or experienced in America."
2010 MNZ NEW ZEALAND SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Round 1 – Timaru Wednesday Jan 6
Round 2 - Motueka Sunday Jan 10
Round 3 - Tokoroa Saturday Jan 16
Round 4 – Manukau Saturday Jan 23.
Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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