is a very tricky event . “ At the Romaniacs they might have one out of 10 creeks called ‘ slimy creek ’ or something like that . Here in Taranaki , every creek is a slimy creek , so it could even be tougher here than at Romaniacs ,” he laughed . South Island visitor Patrick Dillon eventually won the Gold Grade overall this year , finishing ahead of New Plymouth ’ s Matt Foster and Pukekawa ’ s Robert Williamson . “ It was a pretty tough day ,” said Dillon , the 30-year-old Nelson electrician , obviously an accomplished rider in both the moto trials and cross-country codes . But he arrived as an invited guest at the weekend , and without his regular KTM 300EX-C TPIcross-country bike , so he therefore rode a loaned bike , a Beta Evo 250 trials machine . That handicap seemed to have no effect on his results and he won the day by just over seven minutes from national-grade trials ace Foster ( on a Sherco 300i ). “ I raced here at the Korito Technical Matrix for the first time last year , but I got baling
twine wrapped around my bike ’ s sprocket and the delay removing that meant I had to miss heading out for the final lap . “ I am in training for a tilt at the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro in mid-July , so this was an ideal event to compete in ,” Dillon said . “ I have never raced in the Romanian event , but it ’ s definitely been on my bucket list . It ’ s always been a dream of mine to race in that event and I want to thank Dougy Herbert for all the support he ’ s given me this weekend .” The Silver Grade this year was won by New Plymouth ’ s Blake Lusk , ahead of Te Kuiti ’ s Thomas Cooper and multi-code New Plymouth hero Mitch Rowe , a veteran rider who is equally at home on a motocross bike or a tarmacburning super moto bike . The Bronze Grade was won by Jesse Ramsey , who finished ahead of fellow Te Awamutu man Phil Gibson and New Plymouth ’ s Bryan Thornhill . The event was sponsored by Johnston ’ s Moto of Inglewood , Egmont Industrial Suppliers and Hunger Contracting .
38 KIWI RIDER