But now, having turned 40 just last month, the man from Hamilton is eligible to race the 2009 World Veterans' Motocross Championships and he is heading back to again campaign on those familiar battlefields of Europe.

His build-up is off to a flying start. He sustained a wrist injury in December but returned to racing just over a week ago and was quickly up to speed, dominating the veterans' class with a commanding hat-trick of wins at the 48th annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville.

The Subway Yamaha team boss also impressed at another couple of major domestic events, winning at the Valley Motocross Championships in the Waikato and winning at the Auckland Motocross Championships a week later.

He jets off to Italy to begin his world championship bid on March 29. "My wrist was in plaster for five weeks but that came off and I rode with a plastic brace at Woodville," King explained. "It was just a matter of me getting back on a bike, dipping my toes back in the water, so to speak.

"It felt good to know that I was still on the pace. I decided to ride in the vets' class at Woodville and not MX1 because I really wanted to relax and ease my way back. I didn't want to rush things too much."

But, even in relaxed mode, King was impressive and won all his races at Woodville by a huge margin. However, he's under no illusion that he will need to be even quicker when he hits Europe next month and rekindles the battle with some of his former GP rivals.

The Veterans' Motocross World Championships have gone from four rounds in 2008 to six rounds in 2009, with GPs set for several of the same circuits that King raced on with such success in the 1990s. King hopes he can follow the example set by fellow Kiwi Yamaha rider Tony Cooksley, who won the vets' world title in 2007.

The 2009 world series kicks off in Italy on March 29 in Faenza, Italy.