Purvis chasing the Australian title
ANDY MCGECHAN Momentum is building for Kiwi rider Maximus Purvis across the Tasman.
The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team rider has now won three consecutive national championship events in Australia and, after five of 10 rounds in the 2018 Australian Motocross Nationals, he is closing in on the lead in the MX Development class.
His initial results in the Australian series saw him down in eighth position overall in the MX Development (MXD) class after two rounds, not something the 17-year-old from Mangakino was probably used to after he had been so dominant in clinching the 125cc crown for Yamaha during the New Zealand Motocross Championships just a few weeks earlier.
He finished with a 9-13 scorecard from his two MXD class races at the series opener at Newry, in Victoria, last month and followed that with 13-7 race finishes at round two a couple of weeks later in Appin, New South Wales.
But then things began to really click for the Yamaha ace.
At the double-header rounds three and four, at Wonthaggi, in Victoria, a week ago, he managed to finish 2-1 on both days, sharing wins with Australian Bailey Malkiewicz (Yamaha).
Purvis also earned the overall win at both rounds thanks to the count-back rule.
For round five at Murray Bridge, South Australia Purvis was unstoppable, scoring backto-back wins and elevating himself now to third in the championship standings.
Purvis took command of the second race from the start and stayed there, managing to win the race by 0.94 of a second from Melbourne’s Morgan Fogarty.
The next round of the series is set for Conondale, Queensland, on July 1.