The Weekend Winners

Leatt 4 Hour - Trials Champs

Bad weather may have meant the cancellation of the Whakatane club MX round but elsewhere in the North Island, Bay of Plenty riders were active and very successful. There were weekend winners in both Taupo and Taranaki.

The Leatt 4 Hour in Taupo

This event is always a good one and everyone agrees that this time again, it was fantastic. It had rained but the weather stayed overcast and the pumice soil had drained away excess water so the track was great. It was a one lap, one tankful, 40 min loop for the average rider with 2kms of open paddock, 20 mins bush, paddock again and then maize paddock. Most agreed it was an awesome ride, that they had a ball.

Winners of the team event and overall winners by a clear margin of 5 minutes were Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) and Karl Power (see DRD photo above). According to spectators, “they were so fast, it was scary.” Have a look at the following clip. The winners comments are at the end:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KKQnIyHgKo&feature=player_embedded#at=17

But there were other local riders spread throughout the over 300 plus field.

Ashley Bond competed in the women’s section with Melissa Patterson from Rotorua. Ashley got away all right then ended up in a mingle in the first corner – those cold bike - shotgun starts are really something when the rows are 4 deep! But it all came right and the girls came home second behind the Women’s class winners, Casey and Jessie Waterhouse.

Casey had “up-ended” and come off in the gravel and “dealt to” her elbow. However, there was blood but no pain so with a pad and a bandage she completed another 2 laps enabling her and Jessie to gain 80th place overall and the Women’s team title. When she went to Taupo hospital to get her elbow checked after the race, she had a “hole down to the bone” and was told to get to Waikato for a possible skin graft!

There were several sibling teams competing. Roydon White and his brother had a good start, coming second out of the first lap but were then plagued with clutch problems which unfortunately put them back to 52nd. The Papamoa team of brothers Luke and Rhys Henry, also did well, finishing 45th.

Joel Byrnes was there too, teamed up with fellow Mount rider Rhys Carter and finishing with a 3rd in the 0-300 4 stroke class and a 4th place overall. “We had bike trouble in the first lap” says Joel, “which left us in 80th position at the start of lap 2. The spark plug kept falling out. Once that was sorted, though, we put the pressure on and pulled ourselves up to 4th. I was glad it was a team event. I haven’t had much bike time lately so doing lap for lap with Rhys gave me 40 minutes to recuperate before heading out again. It was massive event and the track was getting pretty rough by the end but I thoroughly enjoyed the day”.

Part of the enjoyment was also the socializing. It was social the whole day through. Because most of the competitors were riding in a two man team, there was the opportunity to chat with other riders in between laps but the high point was the evening prize-giving. More than 300 riders and crew gathered at “The Shed” for an evening meal with music and tall tale telling. Nick Reader certainly runs a very well organized event.

For the Dirt Rider report go to www.drd.co.nz

North Island Trials Champs

The Trials Champs were held in Taranaki, right under the mountain. Day 1 was sunny but during the night it absolutely bucketed down but on Day 2, even though the course was muddy, it held up well. Day 1 had been rocks and grassy hill climbs. Day 2 was bush and river sections and more rocks. There are always rocks in Taranaki! Members of the Tauranga Trials Group rode well with excellent results. Phillip Shilton won the A grade class and is leading the overall series with 2 more rounds to go. Runnerup in this class was another Tauranga member,up and coming teenager John Haynes from Reporoa who has recently graduated from the Intermediate class. The president’s grade was another battle between two Tauranga members. Both Paul McLeod (TePuke) and Warwick Merriman finished on equal points so the result went right back to count back over the two days. The weekend ended with Paul just edging out Warwick for first place. Paul’s son, Ben McLeod, won the junior class and Gabby Gundry beat her male rivals to take the win in the Clubmans grade.

For Andy McGechan’s report on the Trials Champs, go to www.bikesportnz.com