Aucklander Hamish Harwood is rapidly becoming the stuff of legends, his performance near Rotorua on Saturday nothing short of amazing.

The man from Royal Heights smashed the knuckles on his left hand when he hit a trackside marker post early on at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville a week earlier and, although convinced he’d broken at least one bone in his hand, he still went on to score a hat-trick of wins in the premier MX1 class.

Six days later and, with medical checks confirming he’d broken a bone in two places, the 28-year-old full-time builder and part-time racer rolled up at the opening round of the 2024 New Zealand Motocross Championships near Rotorua and set about trying to repeat the feat.

The CML KTM Race Team rider almost succeeded too, winning the first two MX1 races on Saturday, before finding himself stuck in traffic at the start of the third and final outing.

Hamish managed to fight through and into second position late in the 20-minute race and that’s where he finished, but his 1-1-2 score-card for the event easily earned him the outright win.

“With all things considered, I’m absolutely stoked. To be able to actually turn up and race … we didn’t actually know if I’d be able to do that," says Hamish.

"My plan was just to salvage some points. I would have been happy with any podium finish, but to be on top is unreal, especially with a broken hand.

“I could certainly feel the pain while I was riding and I had to change the way I gripped the handlebars too. But it didn’t get worse and actually feels better now."

Hamish is certainly made of stern stuff and he was backed up at the weekend with team-mate Josiah Natzke finishing runner-up in the same class, making it a KTM 1-2 finish.

The 25-year-old Josiah, from Mount Maunganui, now heads off to Canada to race for a major KTM team in the nationals there and so he won’t complete the Kiwi season.

“My series overseas doesn’t start for a while, so I thought I’d come and support Hamish this weekend,” says former New Zealand champion Josiah.

“It was just good to get time on a bike. When you practice there is only so much you can learn. When you actually race is when you can see where you’re at.

"I wish I could have been better here at Rotorua, but I’m happy to come away safe and, what’s more, I had so much fun.”

Hamish will have the championship leader’s red number board on his KTM 450SXF bike at round two in two weeks’ time, at Balclutha, at the southern tip of the South Island, on February 25.

After that, the series takes riders north again, with Pukekohe hosting round three at Harrisville, on March 23. The fourth and final round is set for the Barrett Road facility on the outskirts of New Plymouth on April 13.

Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com