The going got tough and the tough got going at Oparau, on the west coast of the North Island, on Saturday.

But, when the mud was washed away at the end of this fifth round of six in this year’s KTM-sponsored New Zealand Enduro Championships at the rugged farmland course near Kawhia, it was Auckland’s Chris Birch who was the biggest winner.

The 33-year-old Kiwi international from Glen Eden celebrated twice on Saturday, winning the rain-soaked day outright and also wrapping up the championship overall with a round to spare.

Birch (KTM) won round one near Whangamata in February and also won the day outright at rounds two and three – near Porirua in early March and in the Riverhead Forest, near Auckland, a fortnight later – putting him solidly on track to retain the crown he also won in 2013.

The only glitch to his title defence came two weeks ago, at round four of the series near Christchurch, when 2012 national enduro champion Adrian Smith (Yamaha), of Mokau, triumphed instead.

That upset win gave Smith a sniff of a chance of stealing the championship, but no more than that, and Birch quickly reasserted his authority on Saturday.

“It takes the pressure off for me for the final round (at Waimiha, in the King Country, on May 10), but I’ll still go there with the intention of winning,” said Birch.

“I had a few dramas today and crashed the bike, but, fortunately, there was no damage to the bike or to me, so I was able to battle on.”

The 28-year-old Smith finished the day in fourth spot overall and was naturally disappointed with that.

“I got tangled up in a tree root right near the end and that cost me a lot of time getting free of it. I beat Chris (Birch) in one of the four special tests today and was close in the others, but obviously not close enough to actually beat him.

“It was really only a long shot for me to win this championship, with Chris being so dominant throughout, but it would have been nice if I could have pushed him to the final round. Maybe I will be able to next season.”

Runner-up to Birch on Saturday was Morrinsville’s Simon Lansdaal (Husqvarna), with Auckland’s Chris Power (Yamaha) third, Smith fourth and Christchurch youngster Hamish McDonald (Beta, main photo above) rounded out the top five.

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

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Results courtesy John and Jane Rushworth, Silver-Bullet