“He’s a machine. He doesn’t make mistakes. He rides perfectly for corner after corner.”

With those words, Warkworth’s Hamish Dobbyn heaped praise on world No.3 Josh Coppins, the man who dominated at the weekend’s 36th annual Whakatane Summercross.

But the admiration was mutual as an unbeaten Coppins was similarly full of praise and respect for fellow Yamaha rider Dobbyn. “I was very impressed with Hamish Dobbyn,” said Coppins. “I don’t know of any rider who can come fresh from the junior ranks and then run at this pace. “I can’t recall anyone stepping up from the junior ranks and performing like that. I didn’t go that fast so quickly, neither did the King brothers, nor Ben Townley … nobody.

“Hamish Dobbyn could be the next big thing. He seems to have his head screwed on right and, if he keeps up the work-rate, he will do well internationally. It is true there could be more juniors who I’ve missed seeing who would also pop their heads up to be noticed like this, but I was pretty impressed with how well Hamish mixed it up with us. “I only hope these comments from me don’t put too much pressure on him.”

The 15-year-old Dobbyn raced a 450cc machine at Whakatane for the first time in serious competition and stunned observers when he finished 4-3-5 in his three MX1 outings. It was good enough for fourth overall in the class and he could well have finished on the podium if he had not been docked 10 seconds in the first race for allegedly jumping the start.

He finished third in that opening race but officials relegated him to fourth.

“I’m really pleased with how I went,” understated the teenager. “I held Josh at bay for a lap or so in race one but he got past me in the sawdust section. I even passed him back but he was really quicker than me everywhere.

“I was impressed with Josh’s strength. I could see when I was following him how he’d just throw the bike into a corner. He could put the bike wherever he wanted to. It showed me how much strength I need to have to race at that level.

“I was initially thinking maybe I could hope to finish eighth or ninth in the MX1 races and then didn’t think I’d be able to do even that when I only qualified 36th. I hit a track marker peg and badly bruised my right hand during qualifying. But I took painkillers and I guess the adrenaline also helped me to get through the day. Adrenaline is a marvellous thing.”

Dobbyn will continue to race in the junior ranks until, after the next national championships, near Otorohanga in April, and then he will officially graduate to the senior grades. He will also race the Australian under-19 championships in May