KIWI RIDER OCTOBER 2020 VOL2 | Page 26

“ We were neck-and-neck after that , until I managed to break free and establish a bit of an advantage . But then I made a couple of mistakes and , at one stage , I was trapped under my bike and wedged against a tree and that cost me a lot of time . I lost my lead and the battle between us was all on again . “ I was able to stick close to him down a fast gravel road section near the end of the race and it all came down to the last hill climb . He made a small mistake and I found a way past on the steep hill ,” said Whitaker , a record eighttime former national trials champion . “ My trials experience came in handy and I was able to take a different line and edge past Tommy . “ I ’ ve been working really hard in my build-up for this series and winning on Sunday has given my confidence a huge boost .” In the end , after five laps and more than four hours of torture , there was just 49 seconds to separate Whitaker from runner-up Buxton .

ROUND TWO Whitaker , the 29-year-old father-of-one , took KTM to a solid runner-up result at the second round of four in the series near Whangamata on Saturday , September 26 , crossing the finish line just 34 seconds behind Cambridge ’ s Dylan Yearbury ( Husqvarna TE300 ). Helensville ’ s Tom Buxton ( KTM EXC300 ), New Plymouth ’ s Tony Parker ( KTM XCW300 ) and Thames rider Jason Davis ( Husqvarna TC300 ) rounded out the top five in the elite Gold Grade at Whangamata . That outcome , coupled with his outright win at the series opener near Porirua two weeks earlier , puts Whitaker alone at the top of the 2020 Extreme Off-Road Championships points table , the series now at the halfway stage with just two double-header events to come in the Yamaha-sponsored series , in late October and mid November . However , with riders to discard their worst result from the three North Island rounds of the series and the South Island finale therefore really a must-do event , the title chase is still wide open .

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