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APRIL 12, 2007: What is perhaps New Zealand's fastest growing sport is ready to flourish some more.
On a weekly basis, recreational dirt bike riding gets thousands of Kiwis out of their armchairs, away from their television sets and out of the house. Almost every weekend, in almost any town in New Zealand, the newspaper classified pages advertise supervised trail rides.
But this weekend marks a biggie on the national dirt biking calendar, round two of the Top Trail Rider (TTR) Northern Enduro Series.
Sponsored by Yamaha New Zealand and promoted by Motorcycling New Zealand, this Saturday's event kicks off near Tairua and sends riders over old gold mining trails in the Coromandel Peninsular, north of Whangamata.
The 2007 TTR enduro series, ideal for entry-level dirt bikers, covers the length and breadth of the North Island, features some of the most picturesque and rugged terrain New Zealand has to offer, and promises to cater for all ages and abilities.
Featuring two parallel but separate series -- the six-round Yamaha Central Enduro Series and five-round Yamaha Northern Enduro Series -- the two series kicked off in February and March respectively and the series co-ordinators, Palmerston North's Steven Bird and Auckland's Shaun Stanbridge, said the main focus was to encourage novice and first-timer riders to participate.
Not to be confused with the national enduro championships, which is midway through its six-round series after last weekend's racing at Waimiha, in the King Country, Saturday's event is nonetheless still likely to attract some of the nation's top enduro exponents.
National championship frontrunners Chris Birch and Karl Power, both of Auckland, rode the opening round of the TTR series and are likely starters this weekend too.
But first-timers should not be put off by this. The two Yamaha-sponsored TTR enduro series are geared primarily to appeal more to intermediate and novice grade riders.
In addition, there are categories for youth and veteran riders.
βI was amazed recently just how many riders are turning up for charity trail rides. Here were 930 bikes at one I attended recently. The demand for a series like this is obvious,β said Stanbridge.
The TTR series runs independently from the national championships series, with emphasis on low-stress, good time rides.
The events will be ideal for club riders to try out enduro racing without the stress associated with the elite level of the sport, said Stanbridge.
βIt's a chance to race your mates on a fairly easy course,β he said.
He said there was an added bonus for riders in the Northern series where a Yamaha TTR230 would be offered to one lucky entrant to ride for the day.
Stanbridge co-ordinates the TTR Northern Series and Palmerston North's Steven Bird is the co-ordinator of the TTR Central Series.
The two series are sponsored by Yamaha, Kiwi Rider magazine, Acerbis, Mitas and supported by Motorcycling New Zealand.
Yamaha TTR Northern Series:
Co-ordinated by Shaun Stanbridge, phone 09-479-1490.
Yamaha TTR Central series:
Co-ordinated by Steven Bird, phone 021-215-9647.
