Raglan dairy farmer Jason Dickey proved he is a serious contender for the upcoming Motorcycle New Zealand Cross Country Championships after claiming the Raglan Rocx cross-country endurance race.

Raglan's Jason Dickey (Kawasaki KX250F), has shown he's on the pace and ready for the nationals after beating his rival Adrian Smith at the Raglan Rocx. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

His hometown victory at the annual Raglan event on January 18 sets him up well for the four-round national series, which starts in Taranaki on February 16 following a resounding dominance over arch-rival Adrian Smith.

Despite problems getting off the start line, which saw Jason down to about 20th at the beginning, a focused approach from the 19-year-old saw him eventually turn around Adrian's lead from a hole-shot start.

'I knew I had to go hard to not let Adrian get away. I slowly picked off rider after rider; and by about seven kilometres into the opening lap, I was up on Adrian.”

Jason's success, which saw him ultimately beat reigning national motocross champion Adrian by a convincing eight minutes, is all the more impressive after competing solo rather than as a two-rider team as he had last season.

Mokau-based Adrian, who won the Raglan event last year, also rode solo.

The trouble-free race has boosted Jason's confidence for the third round of the Bel Ray Cross country series in Huntly on February 9, then the start of the national cross country championships in Taranaki the following weekend.

Jason says he's rearing to give Adrian a serious challenge for his number one ranking this season.

The four-round national championships includes rounds in Huntly and Westland, before finishing in Marlborough in May.

Along with Jason and Adrian, other Waikato and Bay of Plenty riders dominated the top results at Raglan, with third place taken by the two-man team of Rotorua's Scott Birch and Hamilton's Andrew Charleston, while another two-man combination of Tuakau pair Boyd Carlson and Michael Williamson came fourth.

The junior race was won by Te Kuiti's Sean Kelly, followed by Cambridge's Taylor Grey and Taupiri's Andrew Barr.