London Olympian Kurt Pickard turned up the heat in the hot conditions to claim the BikeNZ BMX National Championship in Cambridge.
After winning the final round of the summer series on Friday, Pickard paced himself throughout a hot testing day, finishing second in the morning Superclass, cruising through the championship motos and then nailing the final in emphatic fashion.
In the absence of Olympic silver medallist Sarah Walker, recovering from shoulder surgery, Taranaki's Victoria Hill proved dominant in the elite women's ranks, winning the Superclass and was unbeaten in all four races on the way to defending her national title.
