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April 3: This season\'s national off-road motorcycle endurance championship is shaping into a tense and exciting three-way tussle between old foes.
Pahiatua\'s Paul Whibley, Palmerston North\'s Steven Bird and the defending champion, Tokoroa\'s Sean Clarke, have dominated the four events to date.
Rounds three and four of the Suzuki-sponsored series was staged in Auckland\'s Riverhead Forest at the weekend and the endless chicane of trees and minefield of stumps obviously suited logging contractor Whibley.
The 21-year-old Honda rider won both days to take a slender lead in the elite over-250cc two-stroke experts class and also assert himself as the leading individual overall.
Just 10 seconds separated Whibley (Honda CR250) from Bird (Suzuki RM250) in Saturday\'s 4-hour event but, on Sunday, Whibley stretched his legs to add another 30 seconds to the gap over title-rival Bird.
Two-time former champion Bird said the second day\'s six-lap motocross \"test\" was the main difference between the two, the multi-talented Whibley showing his versatility in the switch from technically-demanding enduro racing to full-throttle motocross.
Clarke (Suzuki RMX250) was third on Saturday and runner-up yesterday to finish the day equal on points to Bird and move up to within one point of him at third in the overall series standings.
Whibley\'s winning margin could well have been greater had he not smashed into a tree and punctured his bike\'s radiator late on Saturday.
Fortunately he wasn\'t injured and was close enough to the end of the tightly-timed section to escape the forest without overheating his engine.
From equal first with Bird after the opening round near New Plymouth in February, Whibley now stands alone at the top of the series points, eight clear of Bird and nine ahead of Clarke but can take nothing for granted with five gruelling rounds still remaining.
\"I\'m obviously not happy at slipping to second,\" Bird admitted. \"But there\'s still a long way to go. It\'s early days yet. I expect to catch up on him (Whibley) at the next round in the Akatarawa Ranges (near Wellington next month).
\"I know the pressure is on me, Paul has a bit of a jump on me now, but I\'m confident I can fight back,\" the 27-year-old said.
Hamilton\'s Eliott \"Superman\" Kent had a weekend he\'s rather forget. His Honda XR400 refused to fire up at the start of day one and, after tracing the fault to water in the carburettor, he\'d lost around 10 minutes on his rivals.
But worse was to follow for the 33-year-old digger driver. Once underway and on an impossible mission to catch up, Kent twisted his knee, aggravating an old injury. Rather than risk himself further, Kent opted out of day two and his series points have taken a hammering. Kent has slipped from 1st to 5th overall in the expert 400cc four-stroke class.
A superb display of near faultless riding from Te Kuiti bull farmer Kevin Archer (Suzuki DRZ400) - winning his class both days -- has given him a seven-point lead in this class over Te Paho\'s Tim Woodward (Husqvarna TE410).
Aucklander Chris Bird showed why he\'s national champion in the expert 200cc two-stroke class with yet more impeccable riding at the weekend.
Unbeaten in his class so far this series, the Kawasaki rider has stretched his class lead to 12 points over Tauranga veteran Terry Cameron.
Te Awamutu\'s Mark Pollard (Honda XR250) won the expert 300cc four-stroke class both days to further consolidate his lead over former national champion Dene Humphrey (Auckland, Suzuki DR250).
The weekend\'s two-day event doubled as the North Island Enduro Championships and this was won by Clarke, on a countback from Bird.
Whibley lost his chance to take the North Island title when he failed to qualify, opting instead to take his bike away for radiator repairs rather than submit his bike to the mandatory overnight lock-up.
In the three-man teams\' points, the Bushrider trio (consisting Whibley and the Bird brothers, Stephen and Ross) have built an impressive six-point buffer over the Te Awamutu threesome of Pollard, Archer and Kent.
The national series now heads to the Akatarawa Ranges, near Wellington, for another two-day double-header, rounds five and six, on May 27 & 28.
LEADING overall standings after rounds three and four in the NZ enduro championships at Riverhead Forest at the weekend.
Expert 250cc two-stroke: Paul Whibley (Pahiatua, CR250) 75 points; Stephen Bird (Palmerston North, RM250) 67; Sean Clarke (Tokoroa, RMX250) 66.
Expert 200cc two-stroke: Chris Birch (Auckland, KDX200) 80 points; Terry Cameron (Tauranga, KDX200) 68; Todd Mardon (Hamilton, KDX200) 46.
Expert 300cc four-stroke: Mark Pollard (Te Awamutu, XR250) 77 points; Dene Humphrey (Auckland, DR250) 69; Lance Sutton (Drury, KLX300) 45.
Expert 400cc four-stroke: Kevin Archer (Te Kuiti, DRZ400) 71; Tim Woodward (Te Paho, TE410) 64; Ross Bird (Palmerston North, DRZ400) 49.
Intermediate 200cc two-stroke: Paul Davie (Cambridge, KDX200) 67 points; Wendy Buck (Auckland, RM125) 56.
Intermediate 250cc two-stroke: Justin Stevenson (Wellington, KTM300EXC) 62 points; Kyle Daysh (Wellington, KX250) 59.
Intermediate 300cc four-stroke: Gavin Prangley (Cambridge, XR250) 80 points; John Buxton (Helensville, XR250) 64.
Intermediate 400cc four-stroke: Jason Amey (YZ400F) 35 points; Solis Norton (Palmerston North, YZ400F) 33.
Veterans: Shaun Stanbridge (Auckland, KLX300) 72 points; Mark DeLautour (Turangi, WR400) 69.
Press agent: Andy McGechan 06 -758- 5182.
Email: teamtoad@clear.net.nz
