It is now two from two for Auckland’s Chris Birch.

The Kiwi international, just returned from a two-year stint of living and racing in South Africa, won the opening round of the Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships at Oparau, near Kawhia, three weeks ago and he repeated the dose with another scintillating performance at round two at Whangamata, on the Coromandel Peninsular, at the weekend.

With two wins from two starts, the 32-year-old new father now heads to the third event of the eight-round series – set for the Riverhead Forest, near Auckland, on March 24 – with an eight-point outright lead over joint No.2 men Jason Davis (pictured here) and Adrian Smith.

Birch’s win on Saturday also means he further cemented his position at the top of the battle-within-a-battle for over-300cc four-stroke class honours, where he leads Auckland’s Chris Power, the defending class champion, by eight points also.

“The series is certainly going alright for me so far,” said Birch matter-of-factly.

“It has been a while since I’ve raced enduros in New Zealand, so it’s feeling quite fresh and exciting for me.

“It all went pretty smoothly for me on Saturday and I didn’t manage to drop my handlebars on the dirt (fall off) at any time,” he laughed.

“It was the first enduro too for my daughter, Zoe. She is just 15 days old but (my wife) Monica came along with her and she seemed to cope quite well.”

Whangamata’s Davis showed some of the form that made him national enduro champion in 2010 when he edged out overall defending 2012 national champion and round one runner-up Smith, of Mokau, on Saturday, the two men therefore sharing second and third placings in the series thus far, and putting them level in the championship standings.

This also places Davis and Smith level at the top of the over-200cc two-stroke class.

Davis said he was very pleased with the course and that it suited him.

“Dust could have been a big problem because it’s been very dry here lately. But the organising club put all the special tests in all the right places and so much of the dust problem was avoided.

“It took me a while to get going today, but, once I was warmed up, I was away.

“I’m looking forward to the next round in Riverhead Forest. I usually go well there and even beat Chris (Birch) there the last time we fought there.”

Other class winners on Saturday were Hokianga’s Damon Nield (expert under-200cc two-stroke); his elder brother Mitchell Nield (expert under-300cc four-stroke) and Tokoroa’s Sean Clarke (veterans’ over-40 years’ class).

After the Riverhead Forest event, the series heads to Wellington on April 27. It wraps up near Tokoroa on September 21.

2013 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championships calendar:

Round 1, Feb 2, Oparau

Round 2, Feb 23, Whangamata

Round 3, March 24, Riverhead

Round 4 April 27, Wellington

Round 5, May 11, Waimiha

Round 6, June 1, Maramarua

Round 7, July 20, Taupo

Round 8, Sept 21, Tokoroa

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