NZ Enduro Championship now 8 rounds
It flies in the face of current trends – other sports are scaling back in light of tough economic times – and shows just how healthy the Kiwi enduro scene is.
Motorcycling New Zealand enduro commissioner Shaun Prescott: "We decided that, as long as the rounds are spread out, we could expand it easily and so now we have eight rounds. All rounds count for the ‘outright’ winner, but riders can discard their one worst result, so only seven of the eight rounds are counted towards individual class titles. "A lot of interest is being shown in the series this year by riders who have never before tried enduro racing, so I guess we must be starting to tap into the trail bike riding scene. "Basically, if you can ride a trail ride, you can ride an enduro championship round ... it’s just a fraction more intense.” The series will incorporate the Kiwi Rider Junior Cup competition as well this year, catering for younger riders at the same national championship rounds. They will ride the intermediate sections and be in separate age groups, 12-14 years and 15-16 years. "This is a huge growth area for the sport,” said Prescott. "This is where our future national and world champions will come from.” As well as the championship series being boosted this season, there will also be an additional three-day North Island Enduro Championships event, to be held at Maramarua, near Thames, over the Queen’s Birthday Weekend. The nation’s elite riders are all expected to embrace the new series with Kiwi international Chris Birch returning home from South Africa, Whangamata’s former national champion Jason Davis back from injury, current national cross-country and 2012 outright national enduro champion Adrian Smith, of Mokau, back from a stint in the United States and Wellington’s six-time national moto trials champion Jake Whitaker crossing over from trials to enduro riding this season. These champions, and others, will go head-to-head when the 2013 enduro nationals kick off in just over two week’s time, at Oparau, near Kawhia, on Saturday, February 2. 2013 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championships calendar: Round 1, Feb 2, Oparau |
Originally boosted from five to seven rounds this season, news has
just come in that an additional event will now be added, making the 2013
Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships a bumper eight-round affair.