Even if you sometimes think you ’ ve had a tough day at the office and you ’ re totally spent as you head home after work , you really still have no idea just how gruelling an eight-hour shift can actually be . The inaugural Forestland Eight-Hour Crosscountry race , held on steep and waterlogged farmland at Oparau , near Kawhia , in late April was perhaps the ultimate test of man and machine , with more than 260 of New Zealand ’ s elite off-road motorcycle riders battling one another , brutal terrain and the clock in a bid to become the first champion in this new marathon contest . Unforgiving terrain and treacherous obstacles ... every slight depression in the land had potential to become a bog , and most of them did . If you wanted a tough challenge , you got it right here . To cut a long story short , it was the twoman pairing of Taupo ’ s Brad Groombridge
Cody Cooper ( Kawasaki KX450F ) co-rode with Whyteline Kawasaki ace Brad Groombridge to win the Forestland Cross-country race near Kawhia
and Papamoa ’ s Cody Cooper who reigned supreme at this Maxima Racing Oils-sponsored event , the two Kawasaki riders alternating to complete 15 arduous laps between them in the eight hours – one of only two teams to do so . The race duration for Groombridge and Cooper was actually eight hours , 24 minutes and 12 seconds by the time the chequered flag was finally shown . Runners-up and the only other pairing to complete 15 laps were Oparau brothers James and Cooper Scott , who crossed the finish line just over eight minutes behind the victorious Groombridge / Cooper combo . Wairoa ’ s Tommy Watts ( Yamaha ) and Taupo ’ s Wil Yeoman ( Yamaha ) teamed up to finish third overall , a lap behind the leading two
46 KIWI RIDER