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New Zealand motorcycle fans can probably expect more of the same high-octane fireworks they experienced last season when the 2007 edition of the North Island Cross-Country Championships blast off near Pahiatua on Sunday.
Last year’s series ended with a cliffhanger, nothing between the top three men – Marton’s Cam Smith (Suzuki), his namesake Adrian Smith (Honda), of Awakino, and Motueka's former national champion Brad Thomas (Suzuki) -- as the championship went down to the wire, and the fierce rivalry between these riders is expected to pick up where it left off when they line up again this weekend.
Taranaki-based Adrian Smith took the title last year by just a whisker and he knows he can’t afford to rest on his laurels. He contested the International Six Days Enduro near Taupo in November and that experience may give him an edge in his quest for overall and class honours in the four-round series this season.
The smaller bike class has had a bit of a shake-up with several of the leading protagonists suffering setbacks and this will throw the contest wide open.
Defending under-200 two-stroke champion Scott Bregman (Maramarua, Kawasaki) has a broken leg and does not expect to join the series until round two, near Rotorua on March 25.
The national No.1 in the under-300c four-stroke class, Norsewood's Kevin Hermansen, is also sidelined with injury, while under-21 class champion Sam Speedy (Te Kauwhata) is not racing this year as he concentrates on his university studies.
This may leave the door open for Jason Moorfield (Kawasaki) to pounce and steal the glory in the under-300cc four-stroke class and for fellow Te Kauwhata man Luke Ramsey (Kawasaki) to step up in the under-21 battle. Ramsey finished third in the under-21 rankings last season.
The format is different from last year. After three rounds of the North Island championships, the riders put it all on the line at a “grand final” round four, an event which adds in riders from the separate South Island series and counts as a one-race New Zealand Cross-country Championships.
