Helensville’s Tom Buxton, top man
at the Dead Toad cross-country
race in the Riverhead Forest
STORY: Andy McGechan
BUXTON TAKES
CHARGE OF
GNCC SERIES
uckland’s Tom Buxton has won the
2018 edition of the famous Dead Toad
cross-country race and, at the same
time, he has taken the lead in the
popular GNCC Series.
The 20-year-old from Helensville took his
KTM 350 EXC-F to outshine more than 80
senior grade riders at the arduous two-
hours-plus dirt bike race, set in a damp
Riverhead Forest, west of Auckland, on
November 10.
Although considered a prestigious stand-
alone event, the Dead Toad race tripled as
the second round of three of the Grand
National Cross-Country Series (GNCC) and
also as the fifth round of si in the aul
Whibley-inspired NZXC Series.
Due to overseas commitments, Buxton
did not contest all the earlier rounds of the
NZXC Series, so this competition was not
his main focus at Riverhead, but he did race
at the opening round of the GNCC Series in
ctober, finishing third overall that day, and
so, with his win at round two, he now leads
that parallel series.
he riders were set off in waves, with the
remier
class riders the first to be sent
on their way. Buxton was among this bunch
and found himself third on the track after
the first
metres, ust before the riders
shot off into the trees.
“I was behind (Drury’s) Richard Sutton
and (Tokoroa’s) Jake Wightman,” explained
Buxton. “It was very slippery amongst the
trees and I didn’t want to follow them for too
long. I passed them both and took the lead
after about the first kilometre.
“I got into a good rhythm and maintained
a good ace to ust hold that osition and
stayed there until the end,” said Buxton,
who was eventually one of ust
riders
to complete six laps in the designated two
hours, actually finishing in a time of two
hours and 33 minutes.
ust rode sensibly and avoided making
mistakes.”
Buxton crossed the line seven minutes
ahead of the man who finished runner-u ,
Titirangi’s Callan May, the rider who is also
his main rival for GNCC Series honours.
Third overall was Cambridge’s Dylan
Yearbury, with Wightman and Whanganui’s
eth eardon rounding out the to five.
“I’m in a good position now to win the GNCC
eries. y aim is to win the third and final
round (at Waimiha, in the King Country,
on December 8) and that will at least be
something I can put in the bank this season,
after being away overseas and not able to
race much at home.”
He had led the New Zealand Enduro
Championships after winning the opening
two rounds of that six-round series in April,
but then decided to follow his dream and
head to the renowned annual Romaniacs
hard enduro event in Romania, abandoning
the domestic racing scene at home.
“I was working as a track manager at the
Romaniacs event, so I wasn’t racing there,
but it was a great way to gain insight about
the event. I hope one day to race the
Romaniacs, but it is pretty brutal and I’m
really in no rush to do it. I’m young. I’ve got
time on my side.”