Groombridge Lives Up To His Words

King of the Mountain 2014

Suzuki Press Release

“Live life as if every day was your last.”

Those words are tattooed on the upper right arm of Taupo’s Brad Groombridge and he certainly lived up to them when he raced at the King of the Mountain Motocross in Taranaki at the weekend.

The short version of Sunday’s racing was this: Groombridge was unbeatable on Sunday.

The long version is this: Groombridge took his Bel Ray Pro Rider Suzuki RM-Z450 to win both MX1 class races and the King of the Mountain all-in feature race as well, repeating the success he enjoyed when winning the big stand-alone Taranaki event the last time it was raced in 2012 and continuing the winning trend he has enjoyed for the early part of this season.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for 23-year-old Groombridge with Rotorua’s two-time former national champion Michael Phillips grabbing the early lead in all three races, the two MX1 races and the feature final.

But each time BikesportNZ.com-supported rider Groombridge managed to find a way past his fellow Bay of Plenty rival, although for the feature final he had to do that half a dozen times.

The lead changed at least six times during that final 20-minute race, the crowd mesmerised as Groombridge and Phillips cut and thrust around the steep Barrett Road Motorcycle Park circuit on the outskirts of New Plymouth.

But Groombridge was in front when it counted most, at the end of the final lap, Phillips nipping at his rear wheel and eventual third-placed Kawasaki rider Dion Picard, of Atiamuri, still 30-seconds behind.

“That was a bit of a battle that one,” declared Groombridge, as he slumped into a chair in the pits at the end of the feature race.

“I made a few mistakes on the slick track ... in fact the track got trickier as it dried out during the day. The hard-packed soil was very treacherous and it was hard to pick lines. Michael (Phillips) was strong and he forced me to try different lines to get past him. I had to experiment a little,” Groombridge smiled.

“My fitness is probably the best it’s ever been at the moment and I’m looking forward now to the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville next weekend and then that national champs that follow next month.

“I hope I can keep my winning momentum going.”

The junior King of the Mountain feature final earlier in the day was won by Patea’s Ryan Gwynn, with Masterton’s Sam Guise finishing runner-up and Opunake’s Liam Read third.

Groombridge and his Bel-Ray Pro Rider Suzuki team is supported by Suzuki New Zealand, Moto City – www.motocity.co.nz, Bel-Ray Lubricants, Suzuki Team Pro Rider, Pirelli Tyres, DRC, Braking, Renthal, Yoshimura, O’Neal Racewear, Oakley, Zeta, Epic Decals, The Rock radio, Dirt Rider Downunder, NGK, HiFlo Filtro, BikesportNZ.com and Taupo Diesel Solutions.

For further information contact Simon Meade, General Manager of Motorcycle / ATV Marketing, [email protected].

Words and photo courtesy of Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com.

King of the Mountain Results   

8-11 Years 85cc

1^st Brodie Connelly (1/1/1)

2^nd Devon Ball (2/2/3)

3^rd Dalley Cole (3/3/2)

4^th Trent Duggan (5/4/6)

5^th Brock Sullivan (6/5/5)

12-13 85cc

1^st Max Hefferen (5/1/1)

2^nd Carlin Hedley (1/3/3)

3^rd Zac Jillings (3/2/2)

4^th Josh Clausen (4/5/4)

5^th Vincent Andersson (6/4/5)

14-16 85cc

1^st Kade Wilson (1/3/1)

2^nd Aaron Baker (2/1/2)

3^rd Mitchell Loveridge (3/2/3)

4^th Shaun Drysdale (4/4/4)

12-14 125cc

1^st Liam Read (3/3/3)

2^nd Cameron Hill (2/2/2)

3^rd Sam Cleland ( 3/4/3)

4^th Kieran Baker (4/3/4)

5^th Jaequon Goodrick  (6/5/5)

14-16 250cc

1^st Sam Guise (1/1/1)

2^nd Leslie Longstaff (3/3/2)

3^rd Dean Vickers (2/2/4)

4^th Kyal Batchelor (6/5/3)

5^th Aaron Baker (4/4/6)

15-16 125cc

1^st Ryan Gwynn (1/1/2)

2^nd Callum Holdt 3/5/1)

3^rd Bradley Cole 2/2/5)

4^th Braeden Christian (4/4/3)

5^th Sean Dent (5/4/4)

MX1

1^st Brad Groombridge (1/1/1)

2^nd John Phillips (2/3/2)

3^rd Ethan Martens (4/4/4)

4^th Dion Picard (5/5/3)

5^th Tom Hughes (6/6/7)

6^th Daryl Hurley (3/2/15)

MX2

1^st Hayden Kanters (1/2/5)

2^nd Kieran Scheele (2/1/6)

3^rd Blair Holdt (3/5/11)

4^th Kieran Bryant (4/3/-)

5^th David Ashton (5/5/-)

Nat 125 / Under 21

1^st Aaron Jane

2^nd Ryan Gwynn

3^rd Braeden Christian

4^th Kakob Vink

Vets

1^st Mitch Rowe (1/1/1)

2^nd Bryce McDougall (2/2/3)

3^rd Shaun Raven (3/3/2)

4^th Scotty Vickers (4/5/5)

5^th Steve Webber (6/6/4)

Women Open

1^st Taylar Rampton (1/1/1)

2^nd Nikita Mudford (2/2/2)

3^rd Kendra Reid (3/3/3)

4^th Nicole Marshall (-/4/4)

5^th Brenda Vickers (4/5/-)

MX3

1^st Ben Lightfoot (1/1/1)

2^nd Aydan Palmer (3/4/2)

3^rd Dion Palmer (2/2/5)

4^th Liam Kalin (4/3/3)

5^th Daniel Carson (7/5/4)

Junior King of the Mountain

1^st Ryan Gwynn

2^nd Sam Guise

3^rd Laim Read

Senior King of the Mountain

1^st Brad Groombridge

2^nd Michael Phillips

3^rd Dion Picard

Click here for full results