Chris Power wins 450cc New Zealand Enduro Champs
Monday 23 July: The final round of the New Zealand Enduro Champs took place about 20 minutes out of Taupo on the Napier road and included already established trail as well as some brand new tracks that needed some serious bedding in.
Chris Power: For me it was a do or die scenario as myself and Yamaha rider Adam
Reeves were both fighting for the 450cc class win with only one point separating us going into the final round.
The tests were short and fast and you needed to be on the ball every second. One slip or one missed corner and you could easily drop out of the top ten like that!
After the first three tests I had a slim lead over Adam but it was so to be a matter of just finishing as the Yamaha rider encountered an uncharacteristic mechanical, putting him out of the event, effectively handing me the win, so long as I could finish the event strong.
I ended the day in fourth overall and won the 2012 450cc New Zealand Enduro Champs title, giving me my third NZ title. After relinquishing the my 2010 championship in 2011 due to injury, it feels good to be back on top again. And to add to that, I managed to finish the series in 2nd Outright behind another Yamaha rider Adrian Smith - something else that I was happy to
achieve after my seriously up and down season.
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Firstly I need to thank Honda New Zealand for giving me the opportunity to ride the most fastest and most reliable 450cc bike out there, the 2012 CRF450R. It never missed a beat all year and all I had to do was filter and oil changes.
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Castrol for the GPS oils that kept the bike running smooth.
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Fox and Shift for the great quality gear that lasted a season.
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Dunlop for the GeoMax tires that hook up great and last a long time.
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DID and JT for the excellent chain and sprockets.
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FMF for the Q4 pipe that give the CRF great drive and smooth power.
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Workshop Graphics for the awesome looking bikes and hard wearing stickers.
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Motomuck for keeping the bike clean.
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Watson Racing for the stella suspension set up during the last half of the series - it really made a
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difference.
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Trevor (Power) for coming to every enduro and helping out in the pits and Greg for organising parts when needed. And everyone who I have missed, much appreciated.
Time for a well deserved break - lets do it all again next year?
