Hard enduro maestro and event organiser Sean Clarke was accurate in forecasting who would be the top finishers at the popular three-day Labour Weekend enduro.
The gruelling off-road dirt-bike marathon was dominated by all the young men he had wisely projected would probably lead the way and it was just the finishing order that was unpredictable.
The premier Gold Grade prize at the big annual Husqvarna-sponsored Forestland Hard Adventure Enduro (FHAE) featured different leaders on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday and, as Clarke had forecast, as it was mainly fought over between Amberley’s Archer Pascoe (Husky TE300), Whitecliffs rider Luke Corson (KTM 300EX), Whangaparoa’s Jacob Refoy (Sherco 300) and New Plymouth’s Sam Parker (Husky TE300), the tense battle between these rivals lasting until the last few minutes of the final day.
Also, just as the event title indicated, it was always going to stretch every one of the 150-plus competitors, although perhaps mostly so for the premier Gold Grade individuals, these elite of the dirt bike community naturally being set the most difficult and unforgiving of forest tracks to traverse and conquer over the weekend.
New Zealand motorcycling Hall of Fame inductee Clarke has been organising events and setting courses for many years now and riders always flock to his events in great numbers, a testimony to the excitement and challenge they provide, and he had warned that this year’s annual FHAE event in the Central Plateau region would be particularly taxing.
“We have more than 150 riders signed up to race this year – spread through the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron grades – and we didn’t allow them much time to rest over the three days,” said Clarke.
None of the individuals who had won in previous seasons had entered this time around, so there was always going to be a fresh name etched upon the winner’s trophy.
However, in the end, it was Refoy who out-skilled and outlasted all the others, winning his first major New Zealand silverware in the process.
Refoy was eventually followed home by Parker, Pascoe and Corson, in that order, with Whangarei’s Owen Broughton (KTM 300 EXC) rounding out the top five when the engines were finally shut off on Sunday afternoon.
Whitecliffs rider Luke Corson (KTM 300XC No.2) and Whangaparoa’s Jacob Refoy (Sherco 300 No.3) battle intensely in Friday’s prologue event in Taupo. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Clarke explained that some riders had failed to correctly read their bike-mounted Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems and at least two of the riders who had been in contention for the overall win accidentally “skipped about 40 kilometres of the course”. This later cost them with time penalties being imposed.
“Owen Broughton actually won day two, which was something of a surprise,” said Clarke. “It was a great experience for all the riders, I believe, with the top five or six riders all very close until the end.
“We were very lucky with the weekend in terms of the weather, because the rains came on Monday.”
The top individual in the Silver Grade at the weekend was Inglewood’s Regan George (KTM), with Gisborne’s Angus Thomas (Beta) winning Bronze and Warkworth’s Chris White (Beta) collecting the Iron Grade honours.
In addition to Husqvarna NZ, the event was sponsored by Forestland Motorcycle Club, Forest Trail Events, Kiwi Rider magazine, Ogio, O’Neal apparel, Arai helmets, Blur, Muc-Off, Forma, USWE, Maxima oils, Maxi Grip, Forbes & Davies, SATCO logging attachments and Metzeler tyres.
© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ
Find BikesportNZ.com on FACEBOOK here