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Photo - Motueka\'s Brad Thomas won the NZ Cross Country Championship on his RM-Z250:
SUZUKI’s new 250cc four-stroke has been a phenomenal success in New Zealand off-road competition since its introduction late last year.
At Oparau in February, Tokoroa Forestry Contractor Sean Clarke, stunned the enduro fraternity by riding his Suzuki RM-Z250 to outright victory in the opening round of the Suzuki-backed New Zealand Enduro Championships.
Clarke has since gone on to keep his bright yellow Suzuki at the front of the pack in the highly competitive 250cc four-stroke class in the Enduro Championships.
And now Motueka’s Brad Thomas has won the New Zealand Cross-Country Championship on his RM-Z250!
Not only did the former New Zealand Motocross Champion score the 0-300cc four-stroke class win for Suzuki, he also blasted the Open class bikes to take out the Outright win at the final of the N.Z. Cross Country Championships.
Taking time out from his bus driving schedule, Thomas admits to being surprised just how good the RM-Z250 is.
“I was a died-in-the-wool two-stroke man,” says Thomas. “I just couldn’t see how you could match their light weight with a four-stroke. But this new Suzuki is amazing. Sure, on paper it’s a bit heavier than the RM125 two-stroke but when you’re riding it, you don’t really notice,” he says.
“The power delivery is actually better than on the 125cc two-stroke. It pulls better at the bottom of its rev range and it also has a better top-end. It is actually easier to race than the two-stroke,” Thomas says. “It is amazing.”
Thomas echoes the sentiments of veteran New Zealand Enduro Champion Sean Clarke when he admits to being “amazed” at the power the double overhead camshaft four valve water-cooled RM-Z250 Suzuki cranks out.
When Clarke won the Oparau enduro, giving the RM-Z250 its first outright victory in New Zealand enduro competition, he gave much of the credit to his Suzuki.
“The power is great. In fact, for a 250cc four-stroke single, it’s awesome. But because it is so light, it is really easy to ride. You’re never caught out with braking – it stops really well – but the best thing is the handling! Man, this thing steers unbelievably well, which makes it really good through the forestry sections. The light weight helped heaps,” enthused Clarke after scoring the overall win.
For his part, Thomas also says he has been impressed with the reliability of his RM-Z250.
Thomas’s win in the Cross Country Championship is his first national title since winning the New Zealand 125 Motocross Championship in 1997. Prior to that, he’d won the 1995 N.Z. Cross Country Championship in the over 200cc two-stroke class.
After a major leg injury at the final round of the Pan Pacific Motocross Champiponship in Bangkok, Thomas missed most of the 1998 racing season and then headed overseas. It wasn’t until 2001 he returned to his Motueka home and started racing again.
“I didn’t do much training so I wasn’t fully fit, but I still enjoyed it,” he says.
Then, after winning the Hawkes Bay Six-Hour with Te Awamutu’s Mark Penny last October, Thomas rediscovered the fun of cross-country racing.
“I decided to do the Cross Country Nationals as a way of keeping my fitness up until the motocross nationals start in August,” Thomas says.
His first event was the opening round of the South Island Cross Country Championships at Nelson and not only did he win the 0-300cc four-stroke class, he scored the outright win as well.
At the second South Island round at Timaru, he won his class again, and again took the outright win.
“That was a real surprise,” he says, “because the course at Timaru was very fast.”
Next hurdle was the New Zealand semi-final at Waipukurau where he won his class and finished second overall before heading back to the South Island for the final round near Hanmer Springs.
“The Hanmer course had a mixture of everything,” Thomas says. “It poured with rain beforehand so it was really muddy in places. The rain also raised the level in the creek crossings, so it was a pretty good test,” he adds.
But not even a scary moment with a wild cow on the course could prevent him taking the RM-Z250 to the outright win.
RESULTS
Suzuki New Zealand Cross Country Championships
Final, Lochiel Station, Hanmer Springs
OUTRIGHT:
1. Brad Thomas (Suzuki RM-Z250)
2. Steven Bird (Yamaha WR250)
3. Cam Smith (Honda CRF250)
4. Kevin Hermansen (Kawasaki KX125)
5. Graeme Allan (Kawasaki KXF250)
6. Mark Pollard (Honda CRF250)
7. Scott Bregman (Yamaha YZ250)
8. Neville Coombe (KTM525)
9. Steven Croad (Suzuki RM250)
10. Ross Bird (Yamaha WR250).
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
0-300cc Four-Stroke Class
1. Brad Thomas (Suzuki RM-Z250) 80 points
2. Mark Pollard (Honda CRF250) 72
3. Steven Bird (Yamaha WR250F) 64
4. Adrian Smith (Honda CRF250) 58
5. Chris Penny (Suzuki RM-Z250) 45
Open Two-Stroke Class
1. Steven Croad (Suzuki RM250) 77
2. Scott Bregman (Yamaha YZ250) 74
3. Nick McKenzie (HondaCR250) 70
4. Murray Searle (Yamaha YZ250) 58
5. Brent Christie (Honda CR250) 47
