Power Takes Final Round Glory for Honda

Power Takes Final Round Glory for Honda

Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

JULY 23, 2012: It was a scintillating performance from Honda ace Karl Power at the weekend as he won the fifth and final round of the New Zealand Enduro Championships near Taupo.

The only trouble for the 28-year-old Auckland-based bobcat contractor was that it was impossible for him to garner the rewards he deserved this season.

While there is no doubting his earth-moving prowess both at work and play, injuries prevented Power from mounting a complete assault on the national series.

He had been forced to miss three of the series' five rounds because of injury, so even his winning result at the weekend was never going to be enough to make up the ground he’d lost.

Inevitably, then, despite Power's trail blazing performance at Taupo, the day belonged to rival Adrian Smith, of Mokau, who finished runner-up to Power on Saturday and took the national crown for 2012.

“I was forced to miss rounds one, two and four, so the whole series has been pretty much a write-off for me,” said Power (Honda CRF250).

“But it is extremely satisfying to finish on a high like this.

“When I rode at Whangamata, and won the day there, I actually broke my foot that day, re-hurting the leg injury that had kept me out of the first two rounds.

“But, although this couldn’t be my year, I’ll be back stronger and more determined next season.”

Even with his vastly abbreviated campaign this year, Power still finished sixth overall in the under-300cc four-stroke class and ninth overall in the race for outright honours.

Honda riders were to the fore in other class divisions, however, with Power’s cousin, Aucklander Chris Power (Honda CRF450), winning the over-300cc four-stroke class title and Te Kuiti's Adam Benefield (Honda CR250) winning the intermediate over-200cc two-stroke class crown.

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