POWERFUL DEBUT RIDE | Bikesportnz

A powerful debut ride on his new KTM bike was enough for Auckland’s Sam Greenslade to snatch the overall lead after two of six rounds in the NZXC cross-country series at the weekend.

The 25-year-old financial advisor from Coatesville had collected his new KTM SXF250 bike only days before round two of the NZXC series on Sunday, the event also doubling up as round two of the popular Woodhill Two-man cross-country series, but it didn’t take Greenslade long to get up to speed on the fresh machine.

“I think I started a bit slow, because I was trying to get used to the new bike and I made a few mistakes early on,” said Greenslade, who was riding solo to maximise his opportunity to score points in both the parallel series.

But those riding mistakes would come back to haunt him because, although Greenslade managed to work his way through to third position about a third of the way into the three-hour race, the rigors of the dirt bike marathon also added up and he was forced into “cruise mode” near the end, to ensure he would survive to the finish.

Greenslade eventually settled for third overall, finishing behind Manawatu’s former Kiwi international Paul Whibley (Yamaha YZ450FX) and Howick’s rising young star, Liam Draper (Husqvarna FE250).

“I got more comfortable after a few laps on the bike and picked up the pace after my slow start, but I faded towards the end because I’d spent more energy earlier in the race than I normally would have,” Greenslade explained.

However, he also knew that third was good enough for him to take the NZXC series lead after round one winner Callan May (Yamaha YZ250FX), from Titirangi, suffered tyre issues, and had to withdraw on Sunday, while Draper had crashed out of round one and Sunday’s winner, Whibley, had not raced the series opener near Tokoroa.

“I eased off the pace to ensure I finished the race and scored good points on my debut with the new bike. I think that coming home in third place on Sunday was a pretty solid effort really.

“There is still a long way to go in the NZXC series, but if I can keep plugging away like this, it could work out okay in the end.”

Greenslade now prepares himself to tackle round two of The Dirt Guide cross-country series at Ohakuri, near Tokoroa, this coming weekend.

He finished second overall, behind May, at the first of four rounds of The Dirt Guide and so is ideally placed to earn himself a podium result there as well this season.

“I raced an SXF250 motocross model on Sunday and that’s what I’ll have this coming weekend too, but I’m also looking forward to riding the new KTM XCF250 cross-country bike for the rest of both series,” Greenslade concluded.

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