Motorcross queen on the warpath
Auckland's Katherine Prumm is no stranger to winning - she is, afterall, the reigning women's world motocross champion - but her performance at the weekend show she is now racing better than ever.
It was no surprise that the Kawasaki superstar finished unbeaten in the three women's class races at day one of the 47th annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville on Saturday, but she then took the same KX250F four-stroke into battle the following day as well, this time against the cream of New Zealand's motocross men.
Even with muscles still aching from her "winning work-out" on the Saturday, the 19-year-old two-time world champion backed up with another stunning performance just 24 hours later.
She signalled her intentions from the start of the day, stunning onlookers as she grabbed the holeshot in the day's opening two races.
"I nearly made it three holeshots," she laughed. "It's all about the new confidence I have in myself. I have been working a lot on starts lately they have been one of my weaknesses until now."
Her best result against the men was a sixth placing and she ended the day ranked seventh overall.
"Yes, it was a really good weekend," she said. "I'm glad I was able to run at the pace of the leaders. It felt very good to do that."
If she is stronger, faster and even more confident than ever before, then all of this must be ringing alarm bells for her world championship rivals.
The five-round 2008 women's world championships kick off in Bulgaria on May 11, with rounds to follow in Italy (May 18), France (June 15), Germany (June 29) and the Netherlands (September 7).
Prumm won the world crown in 2006 and successfully defended her title last season. The Kawasaki rider is overwhelming favourite to make it a three-peat in 2008.