He’s a hard man to beat … Taupo’s Brad Groombridge has made it back-to-back Acerbis Four-Hour Cross-country race wins after charging through the field to win again near Taupo at the weekend and, even more remarkably, he did it again as a soloist.

The 24-year-old won the MX1 class at the big annual MX Fest motocross extravaganza at Taupo the previous weekend and he showed his versatility to take his Suzuki RM-X450 model bike and switch over to cross-country mode to win the off-road endurance race in the Tahorakuri Forest, just north of Wairakei, on Saturday.

What’s more, while many of the other riders were entered as two-rider teams, Groombridge again won the race riding as an individual, competing as an ironman.

Runners-up were recent Suzuki Six-Hour race winners Chris Power and Adam Reeves (sharing the riding duties and each riding their own Yamaha YZ450F bikes), while Taupo pair Greg De Lautour (Yamaha YZ250) and Cameron Dillon (Honda CRF250) finished third overall.

Cambridge 14-year-old Aston Grey (KTM 200XCW) won the Motomuck 90, a 90-minute race for the juniors earlier in the day.

With support again from Suzuki New Zealand, and again staged by Taupo company Epic Events, the event has been growing in popularity each year and an estimated 400 riders signed up this time around to tackle the sixth annual running of the gruelling dirt bike marathon in the Tahorakuri Forest, on the road between Taupo and Rotorua.

Power led from the shotgun blast start and, caught in traffic and blinding dust, Groombridge found himself back in about 20th position as the riders entered the bush for the first time.

By the end of lap one, about 40 minutes later, Power still held the lead and handed off to team-mate Reeves, while Groombridge had obviously been on the charge and he arrived second at the pits, about 90 seconds behind Power.

“I found a comfortable pace and simply pushed hard where I could and rode cautiously where I couldn’t” said Groombridge.

Unknown to observers at the track, Warkworth motocross ace Hamish Dobbyn (Husqvarana FC450) had actually caught and passed Power during that opening lap, but his lead was short-lived when he soon afterwards crashed heavily and seriously injured his right knee.

He will likely be sidelined for several weeks at least or several months at worst.

The order at the front stayed the same for the next four laps, until Groombridge snatched the lead with one lap remaining and he held on to win comfortably, slowing near the end to conserve energy and eventually winning by just seven seconds from a hard-charging Reeves.

Groombridge had been a revelation at the event last year when he powered his Suzuki through the field after a poor start to eventually win the race outright and that was the first time that had been done by an ironman.

Now he’s done that twice and few would doubt he could do it again.

“I’ve scored back-to back wins now and I’d certainly like to come back next year and make it a hat-trick,” said Groombridge.

“This sort of riding is great training for motocross and it is part of my deal now with Suzuki that I ride these big cross-country events too, so I guess it’s a win-win for me and Suzuki.”

The 2014 Acerbis Four-Hour race is supported by Suzuki Motor New Zealand, Dirt Rider Downunder magazine, Motomuck, MotoSR, BikesportNZ.com, Camelbak, Spectro, Vortex pistons and Scott goggles.

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

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