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Photo - Hawkes Bay's Mary Perkins, the NZ Womens Four-Stroke Champion:
It was a clean sweep from start to finish for Mary Perkins of Clive, Hawkes Bay in each of the five races at the New Zealand 4-stroke Championships in Te Awamutu over the Easter weekend. The weather conspired to provide testing riding conditions, from dry and dusty on Saturday - to boggy mud on Sunday.
The track, formed on the grassy slopes of a Te Awamutu farm incorporated a large sweeping corner and uphill section to give the four-strokes plenty of room to perform. “I really enjoy riding in the mud so I was having a lot of fun out there Sunday morning. The ruts became very tricky as the day went on and it was easy to get stuck as they were so big, but with careful line selection I didn’t make many mistakes” said Perkins.
A strong womens field turned out on Saturday and Perkins showed a clean pair of wheels to take each of the three races. Sundays trying conditions meant some of the womens bikes stayed on their trailers, but Perkins showed her class with some clever riding. “I definitely rode a bit conservatively but as there was no pressure from behind I wanted to be sure of maximum points from each race” commented Perkins.
Perkins Castrol Honda team was kept busy on Sunday looking after Perkins, eventual mens champion Shayne King and team mate Peter Broxholme. “A huge thanks to my Honda team for looking after the bike and cleaning it ready for each new race. The team atmosphere is great. It really makes us want to race well" said Perkins.
The year ahead is already looking busy for Mary with racing in New Zealand, Australia and at the world's first ever female FMX competition to be held in the USA.
