Enduro Racing Fierce At The Front

Enduro Racing Fierce At The Front

APRIL 10, 2012: Whangamata’s Jason Davis will be hoping that riding on home turf offers him some advantage as the third round of five in this season’s New Zealand Enduro Championships is held in his back yard on Saturday afternoon.

It has been a mixed bag of results in the Yamaha-sponsored series thus far.

Wellington’s Rory Mead won the day at round one near Kawhia in February, while Palmerston North’s Adam Reeves and Auckland’s Chris Power shared second spot, but Davis was the stand-out rider at round two in Northland last month.

However none of these riders has been able to string together two top results thus far and it is a consistent Damon Nield, of Hokianga, who actually heads the outright championship points standings.

Opotiki’s John O’Dea, Nield’s elder brother Mitchell Nield and Te Awamutu’s Kevin Archer have also been solid performers in the opening rounds and they could reasonably be expected to shine at Whangamata on Saturday.

“Anything could happen this weekend,” said Motorcycle New Zealand enduro commissioner Shaun Prescott, of Thames.

“There are question marks over the fitness of several of the leading riders ... Nield and Davis in particular ... so perhaps we’ll have an entirely different winner on Saturday.”

Round one winner Mead was a notable absentee at round two and is not likely to start this weekend either, with overseas racing commitments keeping him away, and that means it really is anyone’s race to win on Saturday.

The fourth round of the series is set for Waimiha on May 5, with the fifth and final due in Taupo on July 21.

Credit: Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

ENDS

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