The New Zealand World Cup Qualifying series for 2018/19 is starting to take shape. To date, four of six rounds have been completed. Results of the first four rounds are as follows:

Round 1: Hastings. (19/10/2018)

Round 2: Hawera. (17/11/2018)

Round 3: Feilding. (01/12/2018)

Round 4: Taupo. (15/12/2018)

With four different riders winning each of the rounds, the top of the leaderboard is very crowded. Taupo based young-gun, Briar Burnett-Grant, by virtue of two seconds and a third in her only three outings, leads the series by just seven points. Second place through to fifth are separated by just a single point. Currently the top ten placings are:

With only the best four rounds of the six counting towards the final total, points scored in the last two rounds will have varying impacts on the leaderboard. For example, the top three riders have only competed in three rounds, so a good score in either of the last two rounds will help consolidate their positions.

January could be a huge month for the current leader. Burnett-Grant, will be looking to not only win the World Cup Qualifying Series, but will represent New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman Young Rider Challenge in Gisborne at the end of the month. 

The next round of the World Cup Qualifying series will be held on the 6^th of January at Dannevirke, with the series wrapping-up in Waitemata on January 13.