POPULAR BIKE SERIES WILL GO DOWN TO THE WIRE

The National Club Enduro Series is going down to the wire after a thrilling third round of four near Atiamuri on Saturday.

There is little to separate the leading riders at the top of several distinct rider categories after heated battles at the weekend, and so everything will be on the line at the final round when it wraps up in unforgiving forestland on exactly the same rugged patch of land next month (June 20).

“It will be roughly the same terrain, but the course will be entirely different for the final round and this will certainly keep the riders on their toes,” said event organiser Sean Clarke.

Saturday’s crucial third round of this Husqvarna-sponsored National Club Enduro Series (NCES) saw Rotorua’s Callum Dudson win the event in the premier Expert Grade, cementing his spot on top of the standings for this category, but it could so easily have been a different result with his winning margin just four seconds over runner-up rider Sam Parker (pictured here), from New Plymouth.

Third in this premier grade on Saturday was fellow Taranaki man Blake Lusk, finishing only another nine seconds behind Parker in the race that took just over four hours to complete, and Clarke explained that “it would only have taken a missed gear change or a slight wobble somewhere to easily have changed that finishing order”.

Parker and Lusk have therefore set themselves up as the chief threats to Dudson in the Expert Grade this season, Parker just six points adrift to the Bay of Plenty man after three rounds, while Lusk is just another 13 points further back in third and, if the racing is as tight again at the fourth and final round, it’s almost impossible to predict an eventual outright winner.

Meanwhile, Gisborne’s Angus Thomas again asserted himself as the man to beat in the Intermediate Grade when he made it three consecutive round wins in a row on Saturday.

The main challengers for Thomas at Atiamuri were Thames rider Jack McLaren and Otorohanga’s Sid Davis, these two riders finishing second and third in Saturday’s race, and they are now third and second in the standings with just the one round to go.

Rotorua’s Dominic Spanbroek was again too good for his rivals in the Youth Grade, although he finished just nine seconds ahead of runner-up rider Lukas Bjarnason, also from Rotorua. Third on the day in this grade was Taupo’s Axle Lowe, crossing the finish line just 11 seconds after Bjarnason.

In the novel Vinduro (vintage dirt bike) Grade, Hamilton’s Lance Carter recovered from a disappointing 13th-place finish at round one, to win round two and then cross the finish line sixth on Saturday and he narrowly leads the class on his 1993-model motorcycle.

Taumarunui’s Cody Davey and Ongarue’s Zach Davey are second and third in the Vinduro standings after three rounds.

Run by the Forestland Motorcycle Club, Saturday’s racing attracted a whopping 178 riders and Clarke remarked that “these entry figures continue to impress” with the NCES growing in significance and status with every passing month.

The NCES is sponsored by Husqvarna motorcycles, Forbes and Davies accessory distributors, O’Neal apparel, Maxima oils, Arai helmets, Ogio bags, Blur, Maxi Grip, Kiwi Rider magazine, Muc-Off, Metzeler tyres, USWE and SATCO logging attachments.