Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 5:14 pm
Napier-base
former Wairoa rider Tommy Watts (Yamaha), with an equal
share of the championship lead at the halfway stage of the
series. Photo by Andy McGechan,
BikesportNZ.com
New Zealand s elite
cross-country motorcycle racers will wrap up the 2021
national championship series in the South Island this
weekend.
It will be a huge double-header weekend this
Saturday and Sunday, with competitors tackling a course near
Balclutha on Saturday, followed by racing near Mosgiel on
Sunday, a sudden and potentially-explosive end to what has
been a thrilling competition.
The four-round 2021
Yamaha-sponsored New Zealand Cross-country Championships
kicked off near Marton, in the Rangitikei region, in late
Monday, 15 March 2021, 5:00 pm
Palmerston
North s Whibley (Yamaha), now with a share of the
championship lead after his senior race win at Dannevirke on
Sunday. Photo by Andy McGechan,
BikesportNZ.com
To say it s tight at
the top of the 2021 New Zealand Cross-country Championship
standings would be an understatement of massive
proportions.
The four-round 2021 Yamaha-sponsored New
Zealand Cross-country Championships kicked off near Marton
just over two weeks ago and on that occasion it was
Napier-based former Wairoa rider Tommy Watts who stole the
spotlight, with Palmerston North s Paul Whibley in his
shadow, finishing runner-up in the three-hour senior race
that day.
Monday, 8 March 2021, 4:36 pm
Taupo s
Wil Yeoman (Yamaha), runaway winner in the junior grade at
round one near Marton two weeks ago. Photo by Andy McGechan,
BikesportNZ.com
New Zealand s elite
cross-country racers are back in business again this coming
weekend, each of them keen to push on or improve upon their
results from the series opener two weeks ago.
The
four-round 2021 Yamaha-sponsored New Zealand Cross-country
Championships kicked off near Marton, in the Rangitikei
region, two weeks ago and it certainly sorted the men from
the boys and the women from the girls.
Round two in
the Central Hawke s Bay region this Sunday is not likely to
SunLive - Leading NZ cross-country riders reveal themselves sunlive.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sunlive.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Many riders had already arrived in the region before the restrictions were announced. “It was a bit of a drama for us to get this happening,” Motorcycling New Zealand cross-country commissioner Chris Smyth said. “We spent a couple of hours ringing around medics between 11.30pm and midnight, but thanks to help from [national series steward] Lauren Stockley, we got it all organised and we were only half-an-hour late getting started.” Taupō s Wil Yeoman led from start to finish dominating the 90-minute junior grade race overall (and in his premier up-to-300cc four-stroke class) on Sunday morning. He crossed the finish line half-a-minute ahead of runner-up rider Luke Brown, from Eketahuna.