BACK ON TRACK | Bikesportnz

Adrian Smith is back on track.

The defending national champion put his title defence back on track at the second round of four in this year’s New Zealand Cross-country Championships in Taranaki on Saturday.

The 27-year-old from Mokau had troubles on the opening lap of the gruelling three-hour dirt bike marathon at Purangi, near Inglewood, on Saturday when he crashed and lost his rear brakes on the opening lap of the KTM-sponsored series.

He was in a strong second spot and decided that, even with his handicap, he wasn’t losing too much ground on race leader Ben Exeter, of Woodville, so he continued to push for another lap before eventually coming into the pits for a refuel and repairs.

That decision proved crucial in the dusty conditions as staying in the race enabled him to preserve his position on the 30-kilometre circuit and a quick pit stop soon had him back on track, the Yamaha ace then able to take over the lead from the fast-starting Exeter at about the two-hour mark.

He pushed hard and managed to open out an advantage of about four minutes by the end of the race, Exeter (KTM) forced to settle for runner-up spot with Palmerston North’s three-time former champion Adam Reeves (Yamaha) moving up from fourth on the opening lap to eventually take third spot on the podium, with Te Awamutu’s Mark Penny (Suzuki) taking an impressive fourth spot overall.

Smith finished runner-up to Raglan’s Jason Dickey (Kawasaki) at round one in Southland last month, but his win on Saturday puts his title defence firmly back on track.

Dickey finished fifth overall on Saturday, still a remarkable performance considering he was only 11th at the end of lap one, but rival Smith is back in the driving seat for the championship as the riders head to Christchurch on April 21 for round three.

The championship wraps up in Hawke’s Bay on May 18.

Motorcycling New Zealand cross-country commissioner Chris Smyth, of Dannevirke, said Saturday’s racing “went perfectly”.

“Everyone enjoyed themselves and, despite the dust, the track was fantastic,” Smyth said. “Craig Morrison did an excellent job of organising things and Greg Ngeru and his team did a great job of setting out the track.

“A bit of rain would have been nice, but it was the best track possible in drought conditions.”

Cambridge’s Taylor Rae (Honda) won the 90-minute junior race earlier in the day, finishing ahead of Eketahuna’s Charlie Richardson (KTM) and Marton’s Ethan Breuer (Honda).

Leading overall results from the second round of four in this season’s KTM New Zealand Cross-country Championships in Taranaki on Saturday:

Senior (3-hour) race: 1. Adrian Smith (Mokau, Yamaha); 2. Ben Exeter (Woodville, KTM); 3. Adam Reeves (Palmerston North, Yamaha).

Junior (90-minute) race: 1. Taylor Rae (Hamilton, Honda); 2. Charlie Richardson (Eketahuna, KTM); 3. Ethan Breuer (Marton, Honda).

Comments are closed.