Defending senior 250cc champion Scott Columb, of Queenstown, made up for a slow start to his 2010 campaign by dominating the evening at the weekend's second round of four in the series, emerging at the end of the event with a solid six-point lead. 

Columb (Suzuki RM-Z250) had started the event second in the standings after a difficult series opener near Timaru a week earlier, nine points behind Mount Maunganui's Mason Phillips, but the South Islander quickly made up the lost ground thanks to 1-2-1 results in his three outings at Motueka.

Runner-up to Columb at Motueka was Taupo Suzuki rider Brad Groombridge and, while he remains third in the series standings, Groombridge has now closed in to be just 15 points behind Phillips with two rounds remaining.

Round three is set for Tokoroa this coming Saturday night, with the fourth and final round scheduled for Manukau City in a fortnight, on January 23.

"I haven't been overly impressed with my riding lately, to be totally honest," said Columb.

"I crashed during qualifying at round one and had blurred vision for the rest of the meeting. I came to Motueka feeling a little better and, of course, I'm happy to come away from Motueka with the series lead.

"Everything worked out at Motueka and I'm still in one piece. I'm looking forward to Tokoroa this Saturday."

In the junior 250cc class, Wanganui Suzuki star Tom Managh produced an awesome display of riding, winning his class at Motueka and charging from second in the standings to equal first, now level on points with Rangiora's Isaiah McGoldrick.

Meanwhile, in the senior open class, MotoGB Suzuki rider Cody Cooper, of Mount Maunganui, fought off the pain of a knee injury to keep fellow Kiwi international Ben Townley honest.

Cooper (Suzuki RM-Z450) holeshot each race but struggled with his injury, eventually settling for three runner-up finishes.

Cooper was overall runner-up at Motueka but he remains fourth in the series standings.