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MARCH 19, 2007: There was probably never any doubt that Wellington’s Jake Whitaker would dominate but, in the end, even he had to bow to Mother Nature.
The opening round of the South Island Motorcycle Trials Championships attracted top riders the length and breadth of the country, but it also attracted some of the most extreme weather conditions experienced by these elite competitors.
With temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius on Saturday, hot, dry and dusty conditions greeted the riders as round one began on steep, bush-covered slopes just outside Christchurch.
Overnight it switched to cold, wet and gusty as round two began the following day on lava rock terrain on the Port Hills, overlooking the South Island’s largest city.
Through it all, the one constant was Whitaker’s superb mastery of his Spanish Gas Gas 125 motorcycle, completely outclassing the expert field.
The 15-year-old Whitaker finished both days with less than half the penalty points of his main rival, Motueka’s Brenden Eggers (on a Spanish Sherco 250 bike), and this was despite the fact that Whitaker was sorely tested by the conditions.
“I couldn’t complete some sections on Sunday because I got blown off my bike,” Whitaker said afterwards.
“I enjoyed the obstacles though. I came off a few times but didn’t hurt myself. It was a good build-up to the Oceania Championships, due for Tauranga over Easter Weekend.”
Even with problems, Whitaker’s performance impressed event organiser Lyall Sinclair (Christchurch).
“As the conditions worsened, he just rode better and better. Nothing seemed to phase him,” said Sinclair. “He is a young fellow of huge potential.”
The battle for A-grade honours was a tight scrap between six riders with an interesting stoush between veteran Karl Clark (Motueka) and his protégé, Nicholas Oliver (Nelson), at the head of the field.
The 18-year-old Oliver won day one with Clark coming back to win the second day and taking the overall.
Oliver’s dad, Stephen (46), finished third overall after the two days with Wellington’s Carl Robson fourth. The Hibbs brothers from Invercargill, Bradley and Jason, finished fifth and sixth respectively.
A third Oliver, 15-year-old Peter, won the intermediate class with Nelson’s Oliver Biggs runner-up and just one point separating Glenn Smith (Christchurch) and Shane Brons (Christchurch) in third and fourth position respectively.
Rounds three and fourth of the South Island series are set for Blenheim on July 21-22.
