I t was celebration time for Hawke ’ s Bay ’ s Tommy Watts in mid-April , with back-to-back wins in the South Island earning him his first national motorcycling cross-country title . The 19-year-old Napier-based former Wairoa man had a share of the lead in the Yamaha-sponsored competition after the first two of four rounds in the series , with just two days of high-speed motorcycle racing in the South Island , near Balclutha on Saturday , April 17 , and then near Mosgiel the following day , to wrap it all up .
The championship went down to the wire with Watts ’ main rival , Palmerston North ’ s 2015 New Zealand Cross-country Champion Paul Whibley , who was level on points with Watts after the two earlier North Island rounds ( near Marton and Dannevirke respectively ), featuring as a constant threat . But , with only three rounds to be counted and riders to discard their one worst score , it meant nothing was certain until the end of racing on the Sunday . When Watts ( Yamaha ) won the day at Balclutha , finishing just seven seconds
106 KIWI RIDER