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The fourth MNZ championship series to complete in 2004 is the SUZUKI National Enduro Series run over six rounds from February until August. The sixth and final round produced felicitations and frowns when it was run in the Santoft Forest near Palmerston North on Sunday.
The hard luck story of the day must go to Terry Cameron (Tauranga) in the Expert Veteran Class. With a chance of the championship in his sights, he suffered the classic “flat tyre” and had to forgo his championship aspirations.
Chris Birch (Waitemata) already had the Expert 2 Stroke Over Class wrapped up for the second year in succession. He also won on Sunday – after dropping his worst two rounds he effectively completed a “clean sweep”.
The Expert 2 Stroke Under Class produced a tie on overall points. Todd Mardon (Hamilton) and Kevin Hermansen (Dannevirke) scored 97 championship points each after they had dropped their poorest two rounds. The rulebook awarded the crown to Mardon as he won the final round.
Cam Smith (Marton) led the Expert 4 Stroke Over class before racing started, he won Sunday’s leg to produce a perfect score of 100.
Steven Bird (Palmerston North) took advantage of local knowledge to win his second straight Expert 4 Stroke Under title with 97 points. Sean Clarke (Tokoroa) collected the same points tally but only finished second on the day after his bike became constipated in some mud. This may have beaten the flat tyre into second for the hard luck story of the day as the Santoft track is sand based and not prone to mud.
Expert 2 Stroke Over Chris Birch 100 pts, Dene Humphrey 91, Karl Power 66
Expert 2 Stroke Under Todd Mardon 97, Kevin Hermansen 97, Reece Burgess(Tauranga) 38
Expert 4 Stroke Over
Cam Smith 100, Glen Manning(Wgton) 82, John Buxton (Riverhead) 76
Expert 4 Stroke Under
Steven Bird 97, Sean Clarke 97, Roger Boyles(Camb) 78
Expert Veteran
Mark Fuller(Huntly) 97, Terry Cameron 90, Gary Powell 89
