New Plymouth ’ s Daniel Herbert ( Husqvarna TE300 ) powers his way to a podium result , finishing third overall at the seventh running of the Korito Technical Matrix in Taranaki through . Clutch control is a big thing to master and the slippery creek beds are what will catch most riders out . “ For the competitors , everybody wants to be pushed a little bit out of their comfort zone and my obstacle course is based on The Matrix movie ... you can take the red pill or the blue pill , the easy option or the hard option . The hard option will save you time and the easy option has less risk but takes longer . Obviously the fastest rider wins .” Among the entries at the event this year was former national trials No . 1 Dylan Ball , from Wellington , and top cross-country and enduro riders such as Taranaki pair Sam Parker and Daniel Herbert , to name a few . Parker eventually won the Gold Grade overall this year , finishing ahead of Wellington ’ s Cameron Judd , who was on a trials bike , with Daniel Herbert claiming the final podium position . Bulls rider Connor Newton , also on a trials bike , and Urenui ’ s Darren Benjamin rounded out the top five finishers in the elite Gold grade . Parker had finished runner-up at this event last
year , beaten to the finish on that occasion by visiting international superstar Graham Jarvis , from Britain , but he could not be headed this time around . Parker finished the arduous two-hour-plus event a whopping 27 minutes ahead of runnerup rider Judd . The Silver Grade was won by Hamilton ’ s Rowan Watt , ahead of Dannevirke ’ s Anders Easton and Te Awamutu ’ s Brad Greenhalgh . The Bronze Grade was won by New Plymouth ’ s Ryan McMahon , who finished ahead of Whakamaru ’ s Sam Brear and New Plymouth ’ s Clayton Butler . “ I was unsure about whether this year ’ s event could go ahead after losing my brother Grant to cancer three weeks ago ,” said Dougy Herbert . “ The sport and the biking community was his passion , and it was these people who came together to shoulder a large part of the work required to run this event and I wish to thank them for that .” The event was sponsored by Johnston ’ s Moto of Inglewood , Egmont Industrial Supplies and Hunger Contracting .
30 KIWI RIDER