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Team- Carian Honda, Stringfellows, Moto SR
Event- Raglan Rox 4 Hour XC
Riders- Paul Whibley, Mason Slako
Bike- Honda CRF 450
The Raglan Rox 4 hour XC was held over the weekend. My partner in crime was Mason Slako, we won this event last year so were keen to defend our title.
We rolled into the event nice and early with the first job being to get the bike on the line. With only 1 or 2 bikes on the line we had a prime pick. Sign on procedures completed, it was soon time to race. I drew the short straw and had the job of starting.
Off the line I got a shocker and was near last to the first corner, with over 100 bikes entered I had a lot of work to do to get back anywhere near the front. The track ran in reverse to last year and with some light drizzle on green grass, conditions were best described as slick.
I worked hard and fought my way up to 2nd behind Jason Davis by mid lap but had pushed to hard and had pumped up. I followed Jason on lap 2 and tried to relax and let the arm pump ease away.
Jason pitted at the end of lap 2 handing over to Chris Birch, I carried on and handed the bike over to Mason at the end of lap 3 with a small lead.
Mason adapted to the CRF 450 really quickly and was posting some quick lap times. Darryll King had pushed his way to the front with Mason close behind battling with Birch.
At the end of lap 5 Mason came into the pits and handed over to me to carry on the battle. DK had a problem with a stick going through their radiator and I had put a gap on the Davis /Birch team.
Mason went out for his 2nd session and maintained our lead. With time running down and the 4 hours nearly up I completed the last session and we took the win.
Thanks to Katherine once again for organising the pits and keeping our times.
