New Zealand motocross rider Cole Davies has won one of the biggest titles in American dirt bike racing — and he did it on his 19th birthday.
The Yamaha rider clinched the AMA Pro Motocross 250 Championship at Indiana over the weekend, adding it to the AMA Supercross 250SX East title he won back in April. Winning both makes him just the 13th rider in 50 years to pull off the “double”, and the third-youngest ever to do it.
He’s also the first New Zealander to win the outdoor motocross title.
“I expected nothing less than holding this plate at the end of the year,” Davies told the crowd at the presentation ceremony. “It was an up and down season, but it was all worth it, and to do it on my birthday is unreal.”
Davies went into the final round with a narrow 14-point lead over American rival Levi Kitchen. He all but sealed the title by finishing third in the first race, after Kitchen crashed twice and was forced out.
Earlier in the year, Davies won the supercross title more comfortably, becoming only the second Kiwi to do so after Ben Townley in 2007. Townley coached Davies when he was growing up in Waitoki, north of Auckland, and still mentors him today.
Davies moved to the US in 2023 to race in amateur competitions, before signing with Yamaha’s professional team last year. He’ll now take on three big SMX playoff races in September as the top seed.
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