both Groombridge and Hannon suffered misfortunes at round two . Rotorua ’ s Callum Dudson finished runnerup at both the early rounds and so he had therefore revealed himself as the biggest threat to Yeoman . A calm and measured approach was perhaps all that Yeoman needed to consider for Sunday ’ s final round in the Wairarapa . In the end , Yeoman did all he needed to do to clinch the title for 2023 , winning Sunday ’ s three-hour senior race by just over six minutes from Dudson , who had to settle for series runner-up , with Eketahuna ’ s Luke Brown finishing third on Sunday and claiming the last podium spot for the championship . “ It was bucketing down with rain at the start of the race ,” said Yeoman , an 18-year-old auto electrician . “ The laps were quite long , about 45 minutes , so that was tough with managing fuel stops .
Multi-time former national cross-country champion Brad Groombridge ( Beta 430RR ), a title contender again in 2023 after winning the series opener , until issues with mud and an overheating bike ruined his campaign at round two of the series
We decided I needed to do a ‘ splash and dash ’ after each lap , just to be safe ,” he explained . “ Once I got into the lead , I managed to extend my lead . The bike became quite heavy with all the accumulated mud on it , but it wasn ’ t too bad .” Yeoman also won the separate XC1 class title for 2023 ; Nelson ’ s Bailey Basalaj won the XC2 class ; Huntly ’ s Brandon Hoskins won the XC3 class ; best of the veterans ’ 35-44 years was Waipukurau ’ s Stephen Sergeant ; best of the veterans ’ over-45 years class was Whangamata ’ s Shane Frith , while top senior
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