GREENSLADE NOTCHES
UP SECOND NZXC
WIN IN A ROW
here seems to be no stopping Auckland’s
Sam Greenslade, the 28-year-old cross-
country ace notching up yet another win
on one of his KTM bikes on October 14.
Coatesville’s Greenslade took his KTM 350SX-F
to win the fourth round of six in the popular
NZXC cross-country series at Matata, near
Whakatane, on Saturday, finishing the two-
hour dirt bike marathon a solid 10 seconds
ahead of series leader Callan May.
This was the second consecutive occasion that
Greenslade had eclipsed Yamaha’s May for
top honours after Greenslade had also beaten
May to the chequered flag at round three of
the NZXC Series in the Woodhill Forest, west of
Auckland, in September.
Those two wins have elevated him now to
second overall in the NZXC Series standings,
despite his managing only seventh at the series
opener in Tokoroa in July – that being only his
first ride after being sidelined with knee injury
– and then skipping round two of the NZXC “for
family reasons”.
It means he has a steep hill to climb to
overcome May’s points advantage but that’s
not really a concern for Greenslade because he
has bigger fish to fry.
“I am only really using the NZXC Series as
part of my build-up for the enduro and cross-
country nationals coming up,” he said.
He made hard work for himself too on
Saturday, crashing his bike on the opening lap
of what would become a six-lap affair.
“It was muddy and slippery and I went down
hard and dropped back a fair way (in the
82-rider field), but I managed to get back to
second position on lap two and then took
the lead.
“Then I had to come into the pits for fuel
because I only had a smaller motocross tank
fitted on the bike and this allowed Callan (May)
to take advantage and grab the lead back from
me.
“During lap four I caught up again to Callan
and made the pass on him, but then I had to
pit again for fuel. He had a bigger tank than me
and didn’t need so many stops.
“It was wheel-to-wheel racing over the final
lap, but I got the job done in the end.”
Finishing behind Greenslade and May, in
third place overall, was another KTM rider,
Helensville’s Tom Buxton, with Rotorua’s
Callum Dudson (Honda) and Whanganui’s Seth
Reardon (Yamaha) rounding out the top five.
It has been a glorious run of wins for
Greenslade in recent weeks. He had teamed
with Buxton to share riding duties and win
the annual Pirini 400 four-hour motorcycle
endurance race near Te Puke two weeks
previously, further emphasising the incredible
form that KTM riders Greenslade and Buxton
are in at the moment.
Saturday’s race doubled also as round one
of the New Zealand GNCC series and the
weekend’s win obviously gives him the early
advantage in that separate three-round
competition.
Greenslade will be looking to continue his
current winning form at round five of the NZXC
series (which is also round two of the GNCC) in
the Woodhill Forest on November 10.
KIWI RIDER 17