EXTREME
OFF-ROAD
SERIES
HARD TO
BEAT
T
he New Zealand Extreme Off-Road
Championship series has so far lived up to
its name.
Only the best of New Zealand’s off-road bike
riders have been able to cope with the demands
set before them in the opening two rounds of
the Yamaha-sponsored series and this weekend’s
“Over the Top Hard Enduro” in Hawke’s Bay, the
double-header third round of four in the series,
will surely prove just as daunting.
The courses are set with gold, silver and bronze
ratings, with riders able to nominate their own
level to register for in this gruelling competition.
Thames rider Chris Birch won the day in the
premier Gold Class at Whangamata’s opening
round of the series in early September, finishing
nearly six minutes ahead of Wainuiomata’s
Jake Whitaker, but Birch was also classified as a
non-championship rider because he does not
currently have a national licence.
94 KIWI RIDER
Tony Parker, running third
overall after two of four
rounds
So therefore it was Whitaker who officially
claimed the top spot, finishing the day ahead of
New Plymouth’s Tony Parker and Helensville’s
Tom Buxton.
Round two of the Yamaha NZ Extreme Off-Road
Championships at Moonshine, near Porirua, in
September was won by Buxton, with Whitaker
and Parker completing the Gold Class podium
that day.
Whitaker leads the Gold Class overall after two
rounds, just two points ahead of Buxton and a
further three points clear of Parker, but anything
can happen in this most arduous of sports and
talented riders such as Rotorua’s Bradley Lauder
or local Napier rider Mackenzie Wiig could also
be expected to feature this weekend.
The two-day event
in Hawke’s Bay (at
435 Puketapu Road, in Taradale, for day one and
then at Tutira, 45 kilometres north of Napier,
for day two, November 2-3) could be pivotal in