Nelson Rider Leads Series After South Island Round

APRIL 28, 2025: South Islander Bailey Basalaj obviously relished racing on home turf as he won the opening round of the 2025 Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships near Nelson at the weekend.

The Honda rider was in his element as this first of three-rounds of the 2025 series marked its only visit to the South Island this season.

The racing over the two days, Friday and Saturday, were at separate venues, both near Nelson.

The concluding two rounds of the series will be held on back-to-back weekends in the North Island, near Whanganui on the weekend of June 1-2 and near Masterton a week later, on June 7-8.

The nearest challengers for Basalaj in the Expert AA grade at the weekend were New Plymouth’s Josh Houghton, Owaka’s Blake Affleck and Nelson’s Luke Heaphy (who finished runner-up to Basalaj on Friday), with Houghton the stand-out rider on Saturday, eventually winning three of the day’s five special test sections and claiming the overall win for that day.

In the end, however, Basalaj produced a solid 1-2 score-card for the two days and leads the championship standings in the premier grade after round one.

Houghton finished runner-up for the weekend with 3-1 results, while Affleck claimed the third podium spot with a 5-3 score-card. Whangamata’s Ethan Jameson (with 7-4 results) and Judgeford’s Cameron Judd (8-6) rounded out the top five.

Best of the intermediate (A grade) riders was Whanganui’s Grant McKinlay, followed by Masterton’s George Callaghan.

"The combined Kapi-Mana and Nelson Motorcycle Clubs did a fantastic job to create tracks that were safe, exciting and challenging at the same time and the racing over both days was of the highest calibre," said Motorcycling New Zealand enduro commissioner Justin Stevenson.

“The venues at the weekend were a mix of farmland on Friday and then a mix of steep, tight and open forestry on Saturday, so it was fast in some places and quite tricky in others,” said Stevenson.

In addition to Yamaha-Motor New Zealand, the 2025 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championships are supported by Motorcycling New Zealand, Tasman Pine Forests Ltd, Macaulay Metals, Best Build Construction, Silver-bullet and Kiwi Rider magazine.

2025 Yamaha NZ Enduro Champs calendar:

Round 1: April 25-26, Nelson. Day 1, 725 Dovedale Road, Day 2 Moutere Highway, 3.8km west of the Redwood Valley Hall.

Round 2: June 1-2, near Whanganui.

Round 3: June 7-8, Ruakokoputuna Hall, Martinborough District, South Wairarapa.

Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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