KiwiPerrys: Liam makes NZ Mighty 11 BMX team for 2nd time...

Article reproduced from the Kapiti Observer, our local newspaper. Enjoy.

Mighty Perry

By Randall Walker, Kapiti Observer, April 27^th, 2009

Eleven-year-old Liam Perry had a great start to the Easter weekend NZ National BMX competitions, qualifying top in the Mighty 11 test team trials on Easter Friday and earning the role as captain of the team to take on Australia in Australia in June.

Liam won all his motos and the semi-final and finished second in the final to win the trial on points overall.

Being top qualifier “was pretty special” for Dave Kidd who coaches Liam. “I think there were about 40 riders competing for five places and he finished on top on points to make captain, so he’s certainly stepped it up”.

Liam qualified for the five strong team for the first time in early October 2008 and went on to win the trophy for top Kiwi rider when the NZ team took on the Aussies later that month. The Kiwi’s lost that series by a point and Liam would be hoping to lead his team to victory in Australia next month.

The youngster did not do so well for the rest of the weekends racing, crashing in his first 20” class race on the saturday and missing the final to finish in a disappointing 9^th in NZ in his UCI 12 age group. He also competed in the UCI 12 cruiser class (24” wheels) for the first time ever, finishing fourth in the final and earning the NZ4 race plate.

Here's a video of the final