The rise of Cole Davies – extending his AMA 250SX East World Championship lead by 11 points at St Louis in the weekend. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider not only rose in standings in only his second season racing the 250SX division but also sent a clear message that growing up riding and racing in New Zealand is no barrier to racing and winning against the best SX rider’s in the world.
Taking P5 at Round 1 in Arlington, P2 at Daytona Beach, P1 in the Triple Crown at Indianapolis, P1 in the E/W Showdown at Birmingham, P1 at Detroit, and P2 in the E/W Showdown at St Louis – Davies has remained unrelenting to take the 250SX East Championship with 4 Rounds to go. Most certainly, data on how and where Davies has dominated on track highlights his skill, talent, and speed setting the fastest lap times at Daytona, Indy, and Detroit and clocking best sector times in the whoops each Round.
All of which begs the question – how can an 18 year old kiwi – who has grown up riding local and home tracks, putting in motos and not experiencing easy accessibility to man-made SX tracks – simply because there are so few in NZ – develop into the rider he is today? No doubt, surrounded by loyal, supportive family, mentors, and coaches has paved the pathway in an upward trajectory – yet the rise is phenomenal from winning NZ Junior MX Nationals in 2022, to claiming his first 250SX Futures Championship in 2024, to holding the Red Plate in 250SX East Championship in 2026.
On further analysis, Cole’s meteoric rise has been based on key decisions on how to achieve goals when living and training in NZ. #1 working with Ben Townley in 2021 – 2023 was pivotal for Cole’s growth and progression on the bike. As Cole states: ‘”there wasn’t a lot of off-bike training with Ben, we mainly worked on my bike skills and technique. Ben’s thoughts were to get the technique down and the speed would follow'”. Ref: Australian Dirt Bike. #2 Racing Australia’s SX3 Rounds at Adelaide and Newcastle in 2022 – winning both Rounds – grabbed the attention of Feld in America to claim a spot to race AMA SX Futures the following year. #3 winning 2024 SX Futures Championship. #4 working with Wil Hahn and GASGAS Team in 2024. #5 signing with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Team in 2025 >.
An impressive journey indeed, not only for Cole and his family, but also for all NZ’der’s following the epic strides #37 has made in his quest to take his first 250SX East World Championship. Next up: Round 13 AMA 250SX East in Nashville, on April 11.
Header photo: Cole Davies racing AMA 250SX E/W Showdown at St Louis. Image: @ayalamedia graphics: MXLink.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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