Husqvarna's Whitaker Too Strong

Husqvarna's Whitaker Too Strong

MARCH 30, 2015: Jake Whitaker will be the first name to be inscribed on the Taranaki Hard Enduro trophy.

The 23-year-old Husqvarna rider from Wellington won the inaugural Taranaki Hard Enduro at Mount Damper, north-east of New Plymouth, on Saturday, impressively finishing the gruelling event more than nine minutes ahead of Taupo's Greg DeLautour (KTM 250XC), with a third Kiwi international, Pahiatua's Paul Whibley (Yamaha YZ450F), more than 20 minutes further back in third place overall.

New Plymouth's Tony Parker and Inglewood's Paul Barnes rounded out the top five at the KTM-sponsored event.

Three riders also arrived from Queensland, Australia, to tackle the big event – Simon Van Someren the best-performed of these riders, finishing 16th overall, while fellow Aussie internationals Andrew Jeffries and Gavin Ware settled for 22nd and 27th overall respectively.

Organisers had set a six hours as the cut-off time for the event and Whitaker stunned when he took his FE250-model Husqvarna to complete the treacherous 40-kilometre course in just under two hours, although some riders were still stuck out on the track beyond the six hours.

"It was certainly tough, but I think I surprised a few people by finishing in two hours," said Whitaker.

"It was definitely extreme riding. There was a massive hill climb, lots of trees roots and it was pretty slippery. We went down waterfalls, down steep banks and over rocks. I was using my trials riding skills quite a lot," said the seven-time national moto trials champion, who only became a convert to the enduro bike code about two seasons ago.

"I made a few mistakes but didn't get into enough trouble that I needed any help. I'm of quite a small stature, so I try not to get myself into those difficult situations too much.

"I was pretty happy to beat someone of Paul Whibley's credentials. That really takes some doing," said Whitaker.

One of the event organisers, Inglewood man Wayne Thompson, said it was a "tough day at the office" for most of the riders.

"There was a high rate of non-finishers and we were still pulling guys off the track five hours later and many hadn't even gone 20 kilometres. Quite a few of the riders said it was the toughest event they'd ever done, but all said they'd be back next year.

"The success of this event means we will be able to re-launch the KTM Extreme Enduro Series nest year with this event sharing the calendar with the No Way In Hell, The Gut-buster and the Riverhead Enduro events.

"We received lots of positive comments, even from the riders who didn't manage to finish."

ends

© Scoop Media