Brad Groombridge was the other half of the winning team teams , while New Plymouth ’ s Sam Parker ( Husqvarna ) and Cambridge ’ s Dylan Yearbury ( Husqvarna ) co-rode their way to fourth overall and Kawakawa Bay ’ s Ryan Hayward ( KTM ) and Oparau ’ s Hunter Scott ( KTM ) shared riding duties to claim fifth spot overall . Best of the ironman riders was Inglewood ’ s Renny Johnston ( Husqvarna ), who not only bravely rode solo for the duration , but individually completed more laps than any other rider ( 13 of them in fact ) and finished 14th overall . Despite the impressive winning margin , the 32-year-old Groombridge and 39-year-old Cooper didn ’ t have an easy time of it . “ I had the job of riding first for us ,” said Groombridge . “ And I managed to get a fairly good start . I was in about 15th at the beginning of the opening lap , but got my way up to third by the end of that lap . Each lap took us about 34 minutes to complete ,” he said . “ We remained in fourth throughout most of the first half of the race . It was very tough because there were lots of ruts and it was very bumpy . Visibility was also an issue because it was drizzling in places and my goggles were a mess . “ Our plan had been to race two laps each time we changed over riders but , because of the tough conditions , we decided to go one-forone for the first six laps or so , before we then changed to each of us doing two-lap stints . “ I suffered two big crashes on our fifth lap ... my third lap ... and that cost us a lot of time ,” Groombridge explained . “ I was somersaulted off the bike in one of those crashes but , thankfully , I wasn ’ t really hurt .” However , team-mate Cooper was hurt during his first time out in the track , the team ’ s second lap . “ I pulled my groin and was in a bit of pain after that ,” Cooper revealed . “ The elements were difficult to deal with , but it all worked out for us in the end . I took some painkillers and rode a little tentatively , but I managed to get into a rhythm and got the job done .”
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