Camo Keegan sucessfully
defended his premier grade
title at the NZ ATV Champs
STRATFORD’S KEEGAN WINS
FIFTH NZ ATV TITLE
T
he national titles just keep piling up for
Stratford’s Camo Keegan. He was at his
authoritative best on the Hack Track circuit
near Eltham on Labour Weekend Saturday and
Sunday as he successfully defended his premier
grade, up-to-750cc class, title at the annual New
Zealand ATV Championships.
Remarkably, this was Keegan’s fourth
consecutive national ATV title win and his fifth in
total.
Sponsored this year by Reid Recovery, the
spectacular, steep and flowing grassland circuit
just south of Eltham provided an ideal stage
for the sport’s elite to express themselves and
30-year-old electrician Keegan certainly produced
some sparks.
When his younger brother Scott Keegan, usually
his main title threat, suffered an engine failure
and was unable to finish race one on Saturday,
it meant that Camo Keegan could probably take
things a little easier.
But up stepped Otorohanga’s Shane Robinson,
who rode superbly to keep the defending
champion honest, Robinson eventually claiming
runner-up spot in the grade, while Scott Keegan
recovered from his mechanical glitch to snatch
the third podium position.
“I was pretty fit this year,” said Camo Keegan
afterwards. “I had trained hard heading into
the nationals and I think that’s what made the
difference for me.
“I was able to go hard for the whole race.
“Shane (Robinson) is riding really well at the
moment, but the DNF for Scott (Keegan) had a
huge influence on the results,” Camo Keegan
acknowledged.
“My goal was to grab another title, of course.
I was a bit lucky though too, because my bike’s
engine failed in race five and I still managed to
get to the finish. I used my practice bike for the
final two races and finished third and then first in
those.”
KIWI RIDER 103