Wainuiomata’s Jake Whitaker was in sensational form at the weekend, securing his second win at the annual Nutbuster Hard Enduro near Christchurch.
The two-day, double-points Mike Pero-sponsored event was also recognised as the fourth and final round of the Alpinestars-sponsored NZ Xtreme Off-road Championship series and Whitaker’s impressive win also propelled him from ninth to second overall in that multi-race competition.
Whitaker (KTM EXC 300 TPI) had contested only one of the series’ three rounds in the North Island – missing round one at Whangamata in August and round three at Napier two weeks ago – but he had won round two at Porirua in September and so, with double points on offer in Canterbury at the weekend, it therefore allowed him to dramatically zoom up the standings.
Whitaker had skipped the Whangamata event to instead enjoy a belated honeymoon with his wife, Jane, and missed the Napier event because of a clash of dates with an event he was booked to race in Australia.
But there was no stopping KTM rider Whitaker at the weekend.
Whitaker edged out home-town hero Hamish Macdonald (Sherco) at Christchurch, the Kiwi international who had dominated at this same event last year.
Canterbury’s Macdonald had just arrived back at home following a successful season of enduro racing in Europe and he was also in hot form, winning the preliminary enduro-cross prologue event within the Christchurch A&P Show on Friday.
Results here set the start order for the enduro proper the following day, with riders set off at 10-second intervals, Macdonald first away, followed by Whitaker and then Cambridge’s Dylan Yearbury (Husqvarna TE300).
“I lost sight of Hamish (Macdonald) almost immediately after the start,” said Whitaker, who had previously won the event in 2014.
“Then I fell back to about fifth place because I was taking too long to warm up and I was riding all over the show. But then I came right, found my pace and started picking off riders ahead of me. I caught and passed Macdonald on the second lap (of three).
“He was right behind me on the final lap and it was crazy stuff, with the two of us swapping the lead several times. But I was in front when it counted,” he smiled.
Remarkably, after four-and-a-half-hours of cut-and-thrust racing, there were less than seven seconds between race winner Whitaker and runner-up Macdonald at the chequered flag.
Yearbury ended the weekend third overall and this was enough for him to claim the series win outright, although it was 27-year-old father-of-one Whitaker who stole the spotlight on Saturday.
Cambridge’s Beau Taylor won the Silver Class at the weekend and for the series, while Whitianga’s James Kerr topped the series’ Bronze Class standings.
The competition took on new life this year with Motorcycling New Zealand (MNZ) sanctioning the series and recognising it as a national championship, but there was never any doubt anyway that this event would anyway attract all the sport’s top talent and MNZ enduro commissioner Justin Stevenson is now already making plans for the series to roll on next season.
“The Nutbuster was a fantastic event and the amount of effort put in by the organisers was phenomenal,” said Stevenson.
“I think we will definitely run this series again next year, with the Nutbuster again as the final round. I’m pretty sure all the clubs will be keen to host again.
“It would be great to market this event overseas a little more, to attract more international riders. I know all the riders who competed this year enjoy it immensely.”
© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ
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Check back here on www.BikesportNZ.com during this week as we bring you more from the weekend’s Nutbuster and Xtreme Off-Road Series.
Previous winners of the Nutbuster Hard Enduro:
2010: Hayden McKay
2011: Jason Davis
2012: Sean Clarke
2013: Chris Birch
2014: Jake Whitaker
2015: Hamish Macdonald
2016: Angus Macdonald
2017: Hamish Macdonald
2018: Jake Whitaker