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By - John Rushworth:
Martinborough was cool but fine, with blue skies and no wind. From the carpark the terrain looked in perfect condition but not all the land was so well draining. Despite the fine weather there was enough bog to satisfy all but the truly masochistic.
The first of the two terrain tests put the cat amongst the pigeons when Cam Smith (CRF450) took a very aggressive line up the 20 or 30 feet of near-vertical hillside at the start. Everyone else had been taking the track that zigzagged up the hill but Cam didn't have time for that.
Not to be outdone, Chris Birch (KTM 250) took a very similar line but, when he lost traction half-way up, he had nowhere to go but off. By the time he got going again he was 40 seconds down.
Solis Norton (CRF450) managed the hill and was rewarded with the second fastest time for the test, only four seconds behind Cam.
It was all on for the second TT and Chris Birch responded with the fastest time. This time it was Cam's turn for a tumble, losing about a minute in the process. This gave Chris a now unexpected victory for the day, pipping Cam by 7 seconds over the two terrain tests.
Also of note was the hard-charging effort of the Manawatu's Solis Norton. A second and fifth fastest terrain test time was spoiled by 3 minutes of trail time without which he would have been 2nd by a mere two seconds. As it was he finished 8th for the day.
Solis and Maurice Ebbett (RMZ250) have been riding together a lot lately and it shows, with Maurice third fastest in the second test and, courtesy of not losing any trail time, 5th overall for the day.
The rocky ground claimed a few punctures, one of whom was the only woman riding the event - 19 year old Hazel Rushworth (KDX200). Not to be put off she borrowed a second-hand tube from a local farmer and, at the end of TT one, proceeded to change her rear tyre. She then trail-rode the rest of the event.
The Martinborough Club, as per usual, put on a keg and a great feed. It's
obvious that the club really gets behind this event, with a surplus of
willing and able helpers.
They were rewarded with a respectable 60 enduro riders and 93 trail riders.
One other point of note: the Palm Pilots used to time the terrain tests are really proving their worth. No event so far this year has had to discard a Terrain Test and this is largely due to the Palm Pilots.
Despite the Terrain Test finishes still requiring a little skill to manage, The Days Results: are available much quicker and the accuracy of the results is such that there are very few queries, if any.
The fifth and final round is - Santoft on August 1st.
Regards
John Rushworth
