Wil Yeoman
country nationals this season were Watts ( fourstroke under-300cc class ); Yeoman ( two stroke over-200cc class ); Dannevirke ’ s Ben Paterson ( Yamaha , two-stroke under-200cc class ); Waipukurau ’ s Stephen Sergeant ( Kawasaki , veterans ’ 35-44 years class ); Feilding ’ s Hugh Lintott ( KTM , veterans ’ over-45 years class ); Auckland ’ s Charlotte Russ ( Yamaha , women ’ s class ) and Te Awamutu ’ s Jack Carmichael
( Husqvarna , under-19 class ). It was interesting to note that , in eight championship races over four rounds in the crosscountry nationals this year – four three-hour senior races and four 90-minute junior races – there were actually just three different race winners . Scott won all four senior races this season , while Cambridge ’ s Jared Hannon ( Kawasaki ) and Te Awamutu ’ s Nixon Parkes ( KTM ) were the only two riders to win a junior grade race . Like Scott , Hannon was similarly impressive in wrapping up the junior title also at round three on Easter Monday , with his unbeaten 1-1-1 score-card enough to give him that title with a round to spare . It was perhaps no surprise therefore that Hannon did not show for the final round , instead leaving it for Parkes to claim the junior race win . In the battle for overall honours in the junior grade ( behind Hannon ), Parkes ’ win at Porangahau gave him the nod over New Plymouth ’ s Blake Lusk ( Yamaha ), New Plymouth ’ s Josh Houghton ( Husqvarna ) and Taupo ’ s Josh Yeoman ( Yamaha ). In the battle for junior bike class titles , Hannon of course sealed up the series overall , as well as taking the four-stroke over-200cc title , while Parkes collected the two-stroke over-85cc title and Eketahuna ’ s Ollie Corbin ( KTM ) won the under-85cc class .
42 KIWI RIDER