Jake Whitaker
Brad Groombridge was the other half of the winning team of him as he led the pack shortly after the shotgun blast had signalled the start for the more than 130 senior riders . But Dudson wasted no time in carving his way through the fast-moving traffic and , by midway through the first of what would eventually be a five-lap race for the Honda man , he had snatched the lead from KTM rider Whitaker and had also opened up a sizeable gap . “ For that first lap I went crazy to get in front before the riders got too spread out ,” said Dudson . “ I passed a lot of riders .” Dudson was eventually the only individual to complete five laps in the allotted two-hour race duration after he arrived in the timing zone with a huge lead at the end of his fourth lap , but with time still left on the official race clock . He was therefore waved on and sent out for a fifth lap , totally unaware that Whitaker and the rest of the chasing bunch were going to be stopped , these riders having arrived at the timing zone at the end of their fourth lap with the two hours now elapsed . “ I didn ’ t know whether I still needed to push hard on that last lap , but figured I had a solid lead and so just treated it as a casual ride at that stage anyway ,” Dudson explained . The signs had been there for Dudson ( Honda CRF450RX ) to produce the goods at Ohakuri . The first round of the Forestland Cross country series the previous month had been a massive challenge – after two weeks of fine weather ,
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