It probably came as no surprise at all that Taumarunui’s Quentin Palmer won another title at the weekend.

The 28-year-old national champion dominated the two-day North Island All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Championships near Te Puke over labour Weekend, easily living up to his tag as favourite to win the premier class title.

He took his Suzuki LTR450 to win all but two of his seven races over the weekend, beaten only twice by old foe Ian Ffitch (Honda), of Amberley.

Third overall was Canterbury’s Kalon Andrews.

“That’s four North Island titles in a row for me — 2006, 2007, 2008 and now 2009,” said Palmer.

“The weekend went pretty smoothly. There was no rain and just a bit of dust but that wasn’t a problem because I got good starts in most of my races and the air was mostly clear for me.

“The organisers watered the track just before one of my races and that’s where Ian got the jump on me. He was filling me in a bit with dirt and I had to back off.

“I had visibility problems with not enough tear-off on my goggles,” he explained.

It has been a great season for the King Country shepherd, with Palmer also winning his second national premier title near Blenheim in September.

He then ran off with the national TT Championship crown for a third time when that event was staged near his home, at Kuratau, in July. He was unbeaten in all five races on that occasion.

In the other classes, Pokeno’s Thomas Morrison won the open expert grade; Stratford’s Cameron Keegan won the 0-265/ 0-425cc class; Auckland’s Craig Ridgley won the veterans’ class; Tauranga’s Emma Goldstone won the women’s class; Auckland’s Zane Renall won the junior 12-16 years’ category and Auckland’s Ryan Renall won the junior 10-14 years’ class.

Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com