As the dust settled on Tokoroa’s Amisfield track and the opening event of the 2027 Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships ended, it was Monster Energy JCR Yamaha’s Maximus Purvis, who emerged unscathed from a crash in Moto 1 to take the MX1 round win.

Derek Morrison Story

However, it was Hamilton-based Honda Motul Racing Team’s MX1 rider Josiah Natzke who started his season perfectly on his new 2027 Honda CRF450R, coming away with the win in the first moto. After battling with three-time MX1 champ Purvis for most of the race, the Mangakino man had edged ahead before hitting some soft dirt in the rollers and Natzke “just saw his bike flying”.

Avoiding a collision with the downed Purvis, Natzke went on to take the win, with Queenslander Jet Alsop (Alpinestars Best Build Honda) second and Purvis recovering for third.

In the next moto, Purvis returned to his winning ways, with Natzke settling for second and another visiting Australian CML KTM team rider Ryley Fitzpatrick rounding out the podium. The final moto of the day was the decider with Purvis proving too good for his rivals.

“I definitely didn’t start it off too good with a big over the bars in the whoops, but I got back up and still managed to get third. In the next two, I got a good flow on and won the next two, so not too bad of a day,” Purvis summed up his opening round win.

MX2 rookie Phoenix Van Dusschoten, of Levin, but now living in Auckland, was blown away to win the super-competitive class on debut.

“I’m happy to kick off how I ended last year with the MX125 title,” he smiled. “I can’t thank the whole LMC Husqvarna crew enough. The whole Brabant family Karl, Kim, Kaylee, Jonty, dad and Tara. I’ve been putting in so much work in the gym, off bike – on bike. To take out the Tokoroa round one of the nationals … I’m pretty stoked. I’m lost for words to be honest.”

After relinquishing the first moto win to Monster Energy JCR Yamaha rider James Scott, of Oparau, the battle was on between these two determined MX2 men. With the second victory going to the Husqvarna rider, it came down to the final outing.

Scott held the lead towards the end of the race, but Dusschoten silenced any doubters by passing the always-consistent Scott with two laps to go – sending it around the outside and overcoming a stressful last lap to take the win.

In the MX125cc class, there was a three-way battle for the podium, with Waipukurau’s Yamaha rider Carson Carroll emerging victorious after achieving a 2-1-1 results set.

Carroll convincingly won the 12-14 Years 125cc class at the 2026 New Zealand Junior Motocross Champs in April, clean sweeping with five moto wins and would have repeated the feat today, if Tauranga’s Ethan Carleton (LMC Husqvarna) hadn’t been the first to see the opening moto’s chequered flag. Carroll had crashed while trying to get into the lead – a rare mistake from him for the day.

Carroll claimed victories in the second and third motos, and Hastings Yamaha rider Harry Daly had a consistent run of three third-place results. For Carroll, it was “a bit annoying” crashing in the first outing, but he improved from there and enjoyed the intensely close racing with his main rival, Carleton.

“The second one was really good, and the last one was really hard; I had to battle with Ethan, that was real fun though,” Carroll explains. “It’s good racing – it keeps you on your toes the whole time.”

LMC Husqvarna’s Taylor Thompson made the kind of comeback every injured rider dreams of when she returned aboard an FC 250 to snatch the first moto win in the Women’s WMX class. No one watching would’ve guessed the Australian rider had had seven months off the bike recuperating from knee surgery.

Defending champion Kawasaki’s Karaitiana Horne took the win back in Moto 2 after a runner-up result in the first outing. The Raetihi-based teenager was happy to have some competition.

“In the Women’s class it gets a little bit boring riding around by myself, but with Taylor here I have to push, and it’s good for me,” Horne explains.

In the end, it was Thompson – here for the full four-round season – who took out the first event win, with a victory in Moto 3 bumping herself to the top of the points table.

“I came into this with only one week back on the bike,” Thompson smiles. “I had an ACL operation, so seven months off. I was really feeling it today. I’m feeling pretty beat up, and I did suffer from arm pump, but I am still really happy with the way I rode today.”

Regarding her on-track skirmishes with Horne: “She’s riding so good. Credits to her. It was awesome to see some battles in that class. I don’t think people know how hard us girls race. So, it was really cool to swap back and forth with her,” Thompson adds.

In the non-championship MX3 class, fast veteran rider Jonathan Martelli, of Reporoa, dominated the motos with wins in all three.

The nation’s motocross riders now have a fortnight to recover, and then they are back at it again soon with Round 2 of the 2027 Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships set for November 28 at Patetonga Motocross Track in the Waikato region.

Rookie MX2 rider Phoenix Van Dusschoten #722 CML Husqvarna, leads Monster Energy JCR Yamaha rider James Scott #108 at the opening round of the 2027 Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships, hosted by South Waikato Motorcycle Club and held at Amisfield MX Track, Tokoroa, South Waikato, New Zealand. November 14, 2026. Photo: MNZ/Derek Morrison

Results - Round 1 – New Zealand Motocross Championships

MX1 Results – Points

1. Maximus Purvis - 70

2. Josiah Natzke - 69

3. Jet Alsop – 58

MX2 Results – Points

1. Phoenix Van Dusschoten – 72

2. James Scott - 67

3. Alexander Brown – 54

MX125 Results – Points

1. Carson Carroll - 72

2. Ethan Carleton - 69

3. Harry Daly – 60

Women’s WMX Results – Points

1. Taylor Thompson - 72

2. Karaitiana Horne - 69

3. Milla Dahlenburg – 56

MX3 Results – Points

1. Jonathan Martelli - 75

2. Layne Pepper - 62

3. Mitchel Gleeson - 56