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Waimiha sweltered during the first round of the 2008 Yamaha National Enduro Series. The course was approx 50 km shorter than normal and at the soft end of challenging. Gary & Sandra put a lot of work into one of the highlights of the season and the Waimiha Sports Club is the ideal base from which to run an enduro. It is always a surprise that it isn't better patronized. The Raglan Rocx the day before and the Desert Storm trail ride over the weekend would have robbed a few riders and the Bush Riders cross country would have been responsible for a few more but still 64 riders was a dozen on the disappointing side.
Sunday was a stunning day and, because most of the ride was under the trees, there was surprisingly little dust. Despite the countrywide drought there was even a little bit of mud, with a bit of a bog at Kyber Pass as well as a hint of swamp in the long gradual climb up Death Valley. OK, so it was only a few inches of mud and most riders probably didn't even notice but it was there.
Gary kept the riders guessing by changing the course between each of the three loops. Many experienced riders were left wondering as the track, at one point, just kept winding round, round, round to the left and yet never quite meeting up with the track again before doubling back on itself.
The two terrain tests were longish which made them a bit less stressful in that there was time to recover from the odd error. They didn't cut up too much, staying easily rideable, and the test that ended by the sports hall finished with what was essentially a small but very viewer friendly motocross test as it wound in and out of the bunting and the trees.
To put the lie to the reputation that Waimiha is supposed to be hard and physical please note that hardly any of the intermediates lost trail time and there were almost no DNF's.
The big story of the day was Expert rider Peter Flexman (Kawasaki) who had a freaky accident where he hooked a tree, badly damaging his left foot. Despite loosing a toe his biggest upset was the Saint Johns lady who cut his new socks. He lay in the forest laughing and joking with everyone who came past and, when he finally got his helicopter ride, wanted to know if he could take his hunting rifle with him.
Hitting stumps is not uncommon but the damage to Peter's foot was extreme. You probably couldn't do this much damage if you tried. Neil Cooper (#23A KTM 200) happily gave up his event to stay with Peter and keep him company while Peter's extraction was arranged.
Terry Cameron (Gas Gas 250), pre-race favorite for the Expert Vets, whipped his carb off with a passing stick in the fourth terrain test. This didn't stop him but it did mean that his extra long TT time put him at the bottom of the class. Nothing ever fazes Terry and he refuses to be stressed by things like this. It is just part of the sport and I'm sure he will be back even stronger at Oparau in two weeks time.
Phil Skinner (KTM 250) managed to pip Mark Delatour (KTM 300) in this class..
With Mike Bennett (Husqvarna CR125) and Peter Scherer moving up to Expert Vets the Int 40-49 class has been left wide open. Mark Newton (Yamaha WRF250), Allister Whatmough (KTM 250), and Jon Refoy (Yamaha WRF250) were all in with a chance on Sunday with Mark Newton finally taking this first round despite Allister beating him in 3 of the 5 terrain tests. However Allister dropped his bum bag in the fifth test and stopping to retrieve it gave Mark enough of a buffer to take the class.
Jon is upgrading his 05 model WRF250 to a 07 model and hopes that this will give him a few more percent in each TT so he will be another one to watch at Oparau in two weeks time..
Mitchell Nield (Husqvarna WR250) had a bad day when he checked into a time check two minutes early. Mitchell freely acknowledged his mistake and was obviously not very happy about it. His 13th place overall didn't reflect how well he was riding over the day.
Chris Birch (KTM 300) was in relaxed mode as he won the event by over 90 secs. Chris is one of the nicest guys and is another in the stream of great ambassadors for the sport of Enduros.
What wasn’t so great was the drama when up to a dozen riders missed about 16 km of track and an OB check in the process. This didn't directly affect the results but some riders felt that they were penalized by not having as big a rest.
In the normal course of events these dozen odd riders would have been penalized for missing the OB check but in this case Gary had changed the track the previous evening to try and make it a bit safer and this change had made the option of which track to take a bit confusing.
It was felt by the MNZ Steward, Riders Rep, and Event Organizer that the fairest thing to do in this case was to ignore the OB penalties. Obviously this didn't please everyone and it will be interesting to see what happens.
It can only be hopped that the friendly spirit in which NZ enduros are traditionally run comes to the fore. Over the years there have been similar issues at other events and they have usually blown over without too much bad feeling. The danger is that Enduros will become another sport where everyone walks around the pits with a copy of the rule book.
On the other hand the sport does have some clear and well-understood written rules & guidelines and, as much as possible, they should be followed, especially at a National event.
Thanks to the forest owners for sharing this amazing resource and thanks for to the helpers who turned up on the day. Hopefully a few more riders will make the pilgrimage to Waimiha for the next event.
