Bay of Plenty’s Ben Townley has now made it three wins from three starts at the fabled Honda Tarawera 100 cross-country motorcycle marathon after winning again on Saturday.

The 30-year-old former world and national motocross champion took his Honda CRF450 into the lead soon after the start of the 160-kilometre (100-mile) cross-country race, the distance that gives the event near Kawerau its name.

But it wasn’t a case of Townley disappearing into the horizon, but rather a virtual repeat of the race of last season where Taupo’s Brad Groombridge (Suzuki RM-Z450) hunted him down and applied pressure right until the end.

There was virtually nothing to separate the pair at the start of the fourth and final lap of the afternoon and it was Groombridge in front, thanks to a slick final re-fuel in the pits giving him an advantage of several bike lengths as they exited.

But, despite the race typically pushing competitors to eye-watering speeds, even over treacherous ground getting rougher by the minute, it was actually a pass made at walking speed that handed the initiative back to (former Taupo man but now Tauranga-based) Townley.

“I stayed behind Brad through the first part of that last lap and then we came up on hillside that was snagged with lots of riders unable to get up. Brad went right and I went left, both of us trying to find a way though, and we were actually only going at walking speed when I edged past him to take the lead,” said Townley.

“This race was tough. Brad really gave it to me hard and kind of flustered me when he caught up to me on lap three.

“I’m glad I got the win in the end and would certainly love to come back and make it four in a row next year,” said Townley, the winner on debut in 2013, successful defending champion in 2014 and now a three-time consecutive winner of the great race.

Third overall was Reporoa 18-year-old Hadleigh Knight (Husqvarna TC250), with Pahiatua’s national cross-country champion Paul Whibley (Yamaha YZ450F), Rotorua’s Scott Birch (Honda CRF450) and Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (Yamaha YZ450F) rounding out the top half dozen finishers.

Groombridge was philosophical about being beaten to the main prize by long-time friend and rival Townley for a second time.

“At least I hit the front for a time this year. That never happened last time,” he laughed.

“I passed him on lap three but he got me straight back. On that last lap we came up to a lot of riders stuck on a hill. Ben and I were both paddling up the hill but he got a better line than me and that was that.

“I’ll definitely be back to try to win it again next year.”

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

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