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EVERYONE A WINNER AT TOP TRAIL RIDER ENDURO SERIES
APRIL 15, 2007: Everyone was a winner at round two of the Top Trail Rider (TTR) Northern Enduro Series near Whangamata on Saturday.
Though the off-road motorcycle event attracted big-name national enduro championship front-runners, giving them valuable practice between events in that separate series, it also lured many first-timers and novice riders to take up the challenge and “give it a go”.
Series co-ordinator Shaun Stanbridge said Saturday’s TTR enduro was an outstanding success from both points of view.
“Rain made the course quite difficult in places but we had a chaperone system operating to assist the less-experienced riders and this worked well. The sport is very healthy and growing all the time and this is just the sort of thing needed to demystify the sport of enduro racing and to encourage people to participate,” he said.
Sponsored by Yamaha New Zealand and promoted by Motorcycling New Zealand, the course sent riders through the Tairua Forest and along old gold mining trails in the Coromandel Peninsular, north of Whangamata.
The event was also a unique opportunity for juniors to ride and, with a “buddy” system operating with several dads volunteering to act as chaperones, nine riders under the age of 16 also experienced their first taste of enduro riding.
“The clay soil got quite slick and rutted in place,” said Stanbridge. “But I’m sure everyone enjoyed it. I caught up with one young woman, Amanda Morley, who was riding her first enduro and I was quite impressed with how she kept plugging away and never gave up.”
Morley, who rode a Yamaha TTR230, was all smiles at the end of the day.
“I’ve been trail riding bike for my whole life but I’d never tried enduros before,” said the 20-year-old from Mangatawhiri.
“It was difficult when it started raining and I needed a bit of help getting up one hill but I didn’t hurt myself and I had an absolute ball,” she said.
“This definitely won’t be my last enduro. I’m looking forward to doing another one on the calendar, probably round four at Taupo in June.”
Not to be confused with the national enduro championships, which is midway through its six-round series after the event at Waimiha, in the King Country, just over a week ago, Saturday's low-key event nonetheless attracted some of the nation's top enduro exponents.
National championship frontrunners Chris Birch and Karl Power, both of Auckland, and Hokianga brothers Damon and Mitchell Nield battled for the lead in the two expert categories at Tairua.
Power beat Mitchell Nield (18) to win the Expert open class and 16-year-old Damon Nield stunned Kiwi international Birch to win the small bike Expert class.
The TTR series is sponsored by Yamaha, Kiwi Rider magazine, Acerbis, Mitas and supported by Motorcycling New Zealand.
