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SMITHS CRISP AT CROSS-COUNTRY NATIONALS OPENING ROUND
MARCH 6, 2006: It was a nailbiter at Pahiatua as the national motorcycle cross-country series sparked into life on Sunday.
After more than three hours of intense, high-speed dirt bike racing, it came down to the final few centimetres to decide the opening round of the KTM and Motorex-sponsored New Zealand Motorcycle Cross-Country Championships, on steep hill-country about 25 kilometres east of Pahiatua on Sunday.
Marton’s Cam Smith (Suzuki RMZ450) had looked the most likely winner as he led for most of the gruelling marathon but Thames rider Adrian Smith (Honda CR250) slowly gobbled into his namesake’s advantage and eventually took t! he glory, holding on in the last 200 metre drag race to the finish.
In a sport that is high-risk at the best of times, the death-defying attitude of 20-year-old Adrian Smith proved the winner and also earned grudging respect from his rival.
“He was going sick on the downhills,” said Cam Smith. “We were both charging hard and we must have passed each other five or six times on that last lap. In the end, I had nothing more left to give.”
It wasn’t easy for any of the 76 senior or 28 junior competitors who tackled the hard-edged ruts and hoof-holes of the farmland course with riders also having to contend with high winds that, at times, threatened to sweep them away.
“It was pretty scary at times,” said Adrian Smith, the national cross-country No.10 last season. “The cross-wind along the ridges was so strong that I could not afford to get airbor! ne for fear of being blown off the cliff. Every time my wheels left the ground, I’d get blown sideways a metre.”
Third overall was a relative newcomer to the sport, New Plymouth’s Renny Johnston. The 20-year-old enjoyed his first taste of cross-country racing at one event last season that he invested in a Honda CRF250X especially for this year’s four-round series.
It wasn’t such a grand weekend for the series defending overall champion, Motueka’s Brad Thomas. The 29-year-old Suzuki rider nearly didn’t even reach the event after stormy seas caused delays to his ferry crossing. After a perilous crossing, he arrived in the North Island at 2am on race day and drove straight to the event.
With just a few hours’ sleep, Thomas was in no state to mount a serious challenge but still managed sixth overall and finished runner-up behind Adrian Smith in the over-200cc two-stroke class.
Only three of the four rounds in the series count towards the titles, giving Thomas another chance to make up lost ground when the championship heads to Mosgiel for round two on March 26. The championship wraps up near Blenheim on May 7.
The Junior division is sponsored by Murphy Buses, in association with Castrol, while RK Chains is an associated sponsor for the entire series.
NZ Cross-country Championships calendar:
Round one: Pahiatua, March 5 (seniors and juniors).
Round two: Mosgiel, March 26 (seniors only).
Round three: Huntly, April 9 (seniors and junior final).
Round four: Blenheim, May 6 (Saturday) (senior final).
Leading results after round one of the New Zealand Motorcycle Cross-country Championships near Pahiatua on Sunday:
