Dion Sheely
TOM BUXTON – GOLD WINNER
T
he Husqvarna Hard X, wasn’t meant to
be the typical “psycho extreme race”,
but you could’ve been fooled when first
arriving at the quarry where the event
started. The exit from the pits was up
a loose rocky bank with a rock step at
the top, which looked rather daunting. Apart
from that there were just a few more banks
and hill climbs to get you back to the trees.
The start was dead engine start, with 6 riders to a
row. I was on the second row, which turned out to
30 KIWI RIDER
be quite good, because I had the race favourites
to chase and there were a few tracks to follow.
Getting off to a good start, I led my row into the
trees, and managed to get into a good rhythm
quite quickly. I started to catch some of the first
row riders, and by the first gold split I was on
the tail of my KTM team mate Mackenzie Wigg.
On a downhill section called ‘Romaniacs Ridge’
I managed to slip by into 3rd place. However, at
the start of this track a vine got caught under the
peak on my helmet. Thankfully I was wearing Fox’s