Taupo’s Hadleigh Knight had a job to do at the weekend and he calmly went about the task in his accustomed composed and unflustered fashion, albeit at high speed.
The 23-year-old led the popular Dirt Guide Cross-country Championships after two of three rounds and he arrived at the forestry course just south of Tokoroa for the series’ final round on Saturday knowing that he only really needed to watch out for a handful of the nearly 100 riders entered.
With his 2-1 score-card from the earlier two rounds, Honda hero Knight enjoyed a four-point advantage over his nearest challenger, Titirangi’s Callan May, with Cambridge’s Ashton Grey, Whitianga’s Blake Wilkins, Wainuiomata’s Jake Whitaker, Rotorua’s Bradley Lauder and Whanganui’s Seth Reardon perhaps the only other riders who had a mathematical chance of unseating him.
Titirangi’s Callan May (KTM 350 EXC-F), runner-up in the Dirt Guide Series this year. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
So, when Howick’s Liam Draper – just returned from racing in the United States and a non-starter at the previous two rounds of this domestic series – snatched the lead early in Saturday’s two-hour senior race, Knight wasn’t looking to press any panic buttons.
From outside of the top 10 at the end of lap one, Knight took his Honda CRF450X to chip away at the riders ahead of him and slotted himself into second place at the start of his final lap.
“It would have been nice to be able to challenge Liam (Draper), but he was long gone by the time I got through the traffic,” Knight explained.
Knight held on until the finish and with that runner-up result he had easily done enough to wrap up the series win overall. May finished fourth on Saturday and ended the series second overall, 10 points adrift of Knight.
Helensville’s Tom Buxton (KTM 350EXC-F), on his way to finishing third in Saturday’s two-hour senior race. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Wilkins, Grey and Reardon rounded out the series top five.
“This is the first time I’ve done a full Dirt Guide Series campaign,” said Knight, who this year also became the first Honda rider to win the series.
“It was my first time on this bike and I loved it. The Honda CRF450X has a six-speed gear-box and is a little more mellow than the motocross version.
“It has a bigger fuel tank, great for cross-country races, and a speedo on it too. I looked down at the speedo when I was racing along one of the gravel roads and I was going 115kmph … that would be pretty scary, if you thought about it, but I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just concentrating on racing.”
Taupo’s Hadleigh Knight (Honda CRF450X), now with the 2019 Dirt Guides Series win in the bag. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Taupo’s Wil Yeoman won the earlier 90-minute junior race and secured the Junior Grade (12-15 years) trophy overall; Whakatane’s Hayden Power won the Intermediate Grade; Waipahihi’s Lisa Flanagan was best of the Novice Grade riders and Masterton’s Max Williams topped the Mini Grade overall. In terms of class wins, Yeoman won the 12-15 years’ up-to-200cc two-stroke class; Eketahuna’s Luke Brown won the 12-15 years’ 250cc four-stroke class; Kumeu’s Josh Wyatt won the 12-15 years’ 85cc two-stroke and 150cc four-stroke class; Williams won the 7-11 years’ Mini MX bike class and Taupo’s Sam Brear took his Honda CRF80 to win the 7-11 years’ Mini trail bike class.
© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
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The eventual race winner on Saturday, Howick’s Liam Draper, heads down to the start line. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com