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Photo - The King bros swap places in HB:
YAMAHA - Press Release:
Yamaha motocross heroes Darryll and Damien King love a challenge and what better way to test themselves than to tackle a different type of dirt bike race on a motorcycle that’s never been tried in competition before?
When Darryll King teamed with his younger brother Damien to have a crack at the annual Hawke’s Bay Six-Hour Dirt Bike Challenge, just south of Napier, a few eyebrows were raised.
Neither man had previously contested the gruelling cross-country marathon and to make it tougher still, they had never before raced Yamaha’s revolutionary new electric-start two-wheel-drive 2-Trac WR450.
And what a debut that was, the King brothers finishing fifth overall and winning the over-301cc four-stroke class on a bike they had collected from Yamaha only three days earlier.
“It was pretty much a last-minute decision to enter this race,” said Darryll King. “I didn’t know what to expect from the bike. I just went for a quick ride around the outside of the house. I wish now though that I had ridden it a bit more before this event.”
King said he was only riding the bike “properly” about halfway through the six-hour marathon.
“It’s totally different to ride. You can’t take the same lines as a rear-wheel-drive bike. I was finding traction in places that caught me by surprise a little bit. But, then again, I didn’t even set the bike up at all either.
“I feel that a combination of correct set-up and a little more time on the bike before the race and I could maybe have ridden it better earlier in the race.
“It’s a fantastic bike though. First lap of the race, when the surface was slippery, I believed I could do anything on that bike. I felt I was faster than anybody out on the track. If it had rained all day, I think Damien and I could have won this event. It got drier and rougher and ruttier throughout the day. Every lap I rode, I was learning more about the bike but the track conditions were changing too.
“I have never done this event before but everyone’s talked favourably about it and wanted to come and see how I’d go.”
Another six-hour first-timer, Wellington’s Corrie Sargent, teamed with fellow Honda man Cody Cooper (CRF250) to win the overall by nearly three minutes from Suzuki stars Brad Thomas and Scotty Columb (RM250). The third-placed team was the Yamaha pairing of Cam Negus and Barry Morris (YZF250).
After a shocking start, Negus and Morris pegged back the leaders, taking their Yamaha from virtually last to eventually finish less than five minutes behind the second-placed bike. “Cam came through to eighth on the first lap,” said the 25-year-old Morris. “Then we clawed our way past a few more riders until I crashed in the woods and lost maybe two minutes. It’s the first time I’ve raced this event and I’d love to come and do it again.”
Meanwhile, another Yamaha rider to feature near the front in Hawke’s Bay was Steven Bird (Yamaha WRF250), who was runner-up in the tough ironman class, riding solo to complete nine 35-kilometres laps during the six hours.
