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A great New Zealand motorcycle tradition was upheld recently at Granada in Spain when Stefan Merriman won a motorcycling World Championship - the Enduro ISDE Championship. Stefan did it in style winning 6 of the 8 rounds of the 400cc and was the first finisher in this class.
All the top Enduro riders from every corner of the globe were there to ride in the various classes covering the Teams, 125cc, 250cc 2-stroke, 250cc 4-stroke, 400cc and 500cc. KTM was by far the favoured bike of the riders and teams but Yamaha, Honda and Husqvarna were also represented.
The results in the Team trophy had Italy winning from Sweden and Spain. In the Junior Team trophy, Spain won from Italy and Sweden.
The Individual winners were:
Europeans dominated the championships and particularly the Scandinavian countries. So we were proud to see Stefan Merriman breaking up the stranglehold of the Europeans.
Stefan is a native of Tauranga, winning is first championship at the tender age of 15 - the World Youth Trial Championship in Europe.
Stefan wanted a career in his favourite sport - motorcycling with a craving for trials riding. He was good by anybody\'s standard. He worked hard, trained hard and with that Kiwi determination and success had to follow. He set his career off by travelling to the UK but it was simply not lucrative enough to stay.
Stefan tried road racing but as all in this discipline know - it is expensive. So he returned home and eventually secured work in Brisbane with a Yamaha dealer and with it the opportunity to enter and win numerous titles.
What is Enduro Motorcycling?
The object of an Enduro event is to test the reliability of the motorcycles and the skills of the rider covering large distances of unknown terrain to prescribed average speeds over considerable time spans. In world championship events the events often run for 7 hours per day.
Check points are the norm in Enduro. It tests the riders\' ability, their skill and their stamina. It is physically demanding and fitness is essential.
In 1998 Stefan secured a factory Husqvarna to ride in the 1998 World Enduro Championships. He was on his way.
Stefan had set himself a target - I will be World Champion.
And go for it he did. In the 1999 series he finished 2nd in the World and was unlucky not to win but for an accident in practice in the final moto.
Stefan was now part of the famous Husqvarna factory team - a dream fulfilled.
And then into 2000 and Stefan Merriman was on top of the world.
Stefan was asked recently whether New Zealand could ever host a World Enduro Six Day event. His answer was as honest as his riding. No, probably not right now but, with the Australian 4 Day Event being held at Operau in the Waikato early in 2001, it has every chance to prove that New Zealand clubs have the ability to set up the very best track and to challenge the very best of Australasia\'s Enduro riders.
He added that the best Aussie riders will be here and many had been part of the Australian contingent that finished 4th at the International Six Day Enduro event.
Stefan, for professional career reasons, rides in Australia and is part of the Australian Enduro team. He recognises, and New Zealand accepts, that to become a professional motorcycle rider is currently very difficult and almost impossible in New Zealand.
But for all that he does not forget about his homeland and New Zealand does not and must not forget about one its\' famous motorcycling sons (and we have a number of them).
And when will New Zealand have a chance to see this incredible Kiwi in action - at the Australian 4 Day Enduro Championships being held in New Zealand, the first time ever outside Australia, at Oparau in the Waikato on February 3 to February 6 2001.
Stand up STEFAN MERRIMAN - you are a World Champion and we salute you.
