This Kaikoura Three Day Trial is run annually by the Pioneer Motorcycle Club , attracting riders from around New Zealand and this year there were riders from as far South as Invercargill and Tauranga in the North . One of the more memorable achievements this time was John Regan ’ s ride on a 1976 Yamaha TY80 . John , who is normally one of the frontrunners in the intermediate class completed the trial on the little bike which had road tyres and finished 8th on the blue line .
EXPERT ( ORANGE ) With last year ’ s winner Mats Petit absent , it seemed likely that Warren Laugesen would win the expert class year but he had some unexpected competition from Ashley Bell who was riding in his first New Zealand trial . Ashley , who had the loan of a TRS from Brendon Wadsworth , is from Cumbria and has ridden at expert level in the UK for several years . On Day 1 , Warren was five points ahead of Ashley , but on Day 2 the order was reversed with Ashley finishing three points ahead of Warren . On the final day only two points separated the two . Warren finished on 27 for the weekend and Ashley was four points behind on 31 . Kaikoura rider , David Trewin , who was riding a Montesa 315R , was third ahead of Patrick Dillon . Also competing were Paul Mountstevens , Tom Beedles and Peter Gledhill who all have UK trials experience . Fifteen year old , Finn Pearce started on the orange line but was unlucky to have a leg injury on Day 1 and was unable to ride on Sunday and Monday .
EXPERT ( RED ) A second tier of expert riders rode the red line , and this group of 16 competitors included three accomplished South Island enduro riders : Archer Pascoe , Tom O ’ Brien and Fletcher Wassell . Veteran rider , 68 year old Kevin Pinfold from the Manawatu-Orion Club had the
WORDS : Peter Hosking PHOTOS : Lynette Barnett
The 79th Kaikoura Three Day trial was held over King ’ s birthday weekend and this year attracted another big entry with 85 solo riders and seven sidecar teams .
26 KIWI RIDER