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For the second year in a row, Otorohanga’s Sarah Elwin is the fastest woman in New Zealand.

The 19-year-old Yamaha ace successfully defended her women’s class title with a dominant display at the 15th annual New Zealand TT Championships near Kuratau at the weekend.

TT racing is like superbike racing on soil instead of tarmac – the racing is off-road and the competitors use dirt bikes but, unlike motocross, there are no steep hills or jumps to slow things down – and the event attracts entries from across all the motorcycling codes, including the stars of motocross, cross-country, enduro and even road-racing.

Elwin notched up a score card of 1-2-1-1-1 in her five races over the two-day Bike Torque Yamaha-sponsored event, easily finishing ahead of Auckland’s Julie Greenslade and Thames rider Natasha Cairns.

“In the first race on Saturday, Natasha Cairns almost caught me, but I managed to hold her out to the finish,” said Elwin, who works as service manager at Bike Torque Yamaha in Otorohanga.

“I changed the bike’s gearing for the second race to give me higher top speed, but then I bogged the bike in a corner just before the finish line and Julie Greenslade nipped past me to take the win.

“I won every race after that and so, in the end, it was pretty straight-forward.”

Elwin, formerly from Taihape, only won her first national title when she clinched the senior women’s motocross crown near Te Awamutu back in November last year, but she has been going from strength to strength in her racing over the past two seasons.

“I’m a lot fitter now that in the past and this meant I could maintain my pace for longer,” she explained.

“I think it was easier to defend the title this year that it was to win it for the first time last season. Of course I’ll be back with my Yamaha YZ125 to defend my title again next year, although we’ll be racing at an entirely new venue and nobody knows yet what that will be like.”

Next on the horizon for Elwin is to contest the big annual Labour Weekend Motocross Extravaganza at Taupo and then she is considering teaming up with Taupo’s Ashley Bond to race the annual Acerbis Four-hour endurance race near Taupo on November 1.

Elwin is supported by Yamaha Motor New Zealand, Bike Torque Yamaha, Greg Moss, MX Antix, Northern Accessories, Castrol Oil, Bikesportnz.com and, of course, her mum and dad.

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