EUROPE COMES KNOCKING
AGAIN FOR KIWI KTM STAR
STORY: ANDY MCGECHAN, BIKESPORTNZ.COM
O
pportunities to race motocross in the
hotbed of Europe don’t come along often
for Kiwi teenagers, but James Scott is
about to get another crack at top-flight glory.
Early next year he will fly off to race for the Raths
Motorsports Team. He will be based in Germany,
not far from the border with Belgium and the
infamous sand track at Lommel, and will race
both the German Motocross Championships
and selected European 250cc Motocross
(EMX250) Championship events as well.
The just-turned 18-year-old KTM star from Oparau,
near Kawhia, first headed to Europe just over
three years ago, there to tackle the European
150cc Motocross (EMX150) Championships.
His farewell to New Zealand had been perfect, the
then 14-year-old celebrating the winning of his first
national motocross title, recording six wins from
20 KIWI RIDER
seven starts to claim the 13-16 years’ 85cc class title
at the three-day junior nationals in Hawke’s Bay.
A winner at multiple major events in New Zealand
over the previous few years, his victory has been
long overdue and it was perhaps appropriate
that he should win on Anzac Weekend 2016, just
days before he was about to head overseas to
fight in the motocross trenches of Europe.
He immediately impressed on debut in Europe
– his best result finishing runner-up in one of his
two races at the British round that season – and
he ended the championship ranked 17th overall.
Although he could not return to Europe in
2017, he was back there again in 2018, this time
racing in the higher-profile EMX125 class.
He continued to shine, his best result finishing
fourth overall at the fifth round of eight in