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Justin McDonald - Source: ONE Sport
National champion Justin McDonald took out the prestigious International Trophy race at Woodville on Sunday as favourite Ben Townley crashed out.
He led Gisborne's Shaun Fogarty (KTM) and Hamilton's Darryll King (Yamaha) to the chequered flag in day's feature race.
Townley was running second on the slippery track when he crashed his Kawasaki and then withdrew.
"For the first three laps of the feature race I kept the throttle pinned to the stop, but when my pit signals told me Townley had crashed out, I backed it off and cruised to the win," McDonald said.
Only 12 of the 27 starters finished the feature race and only the top three riders completed 10 laps.
For Townley, who recently won the national Supercross title , the meet was his last in New Zealand as he now heads for Europe to continue his rebuilding from a long-term shoulder injury.
It was certainly a consolation that he won both the earlier MX1 class outings earlier in the day.
"It's fantastic to come here and win races," said Townley afterwards. "I have not raced at Woodville since I was about 13 or 14.
"Of course I was disappointed not to win the main race but the two MX1 race wins were still good for me. I wanted to test my speed and fitness today but the conditions wouldn't allow that. At least I finished the day still healthy and fit.
"I feel I'm definitely ready to go international again. My recovery is all going to plan."
The MX2 (250cc) class on Sunday was won by Hamilton's Jesse Wiki (Honda), while Auckland's James Ainsworth (KTM) won the 125cc class and also claimed the under-21 crown.
Results from the 49th New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville:
Invitation international race: Justin McDonald (Christchurch, Honda) 1, Shaun Fogarty (Gisborne, KTM) 2, Darryll King (Hamilton, Yamaha) 3 Peter Broxholme (Tauranga, Honda) 4, Nick Saunders (Taupo, Kawasaki) 5.
Grand Prix MX1: Ben Townley (Tauranga, Kawasaki) 50 points 1, Justin McDonald (Christchurch, Honda) 42 2, Michael Phillips (Rotorua, Honda) 42 3.
Grand Prix MX2: 1 Jesse Wiki (Hamilton, Honda) 45 points 1, Darryll King (Hamilton, Yamaha) 44 2, Evan Wadsworth (Blenheim, Kawasaki) 35 3.
Women's Grand Prix: Courtney Duncan (Otago, Yamaha) 75 points 1, Alex Dillon (Taupo, Honda) 62 2, Kimberley Murphy (Rangiora, Yamaha) 60 3.
