6 Feb 2012

Wellington’s Rory Mead was a class above his rivals at the opening round of the Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships on Saturday.

But the 25-year-old Yamaha ace will really only have bragging rights to show for it at the end of the season, with a successful defence of his 2011 title virtually impossible.

National enduro champion Mead now packs his bags and heads to the United States, to race alongside fellow Kiwi international Paul Whibley (Yamaha) in the Grand National Cross-country Championships (GNCC), therefore ruling Mead out of a possible outright series win at home this season.

“I can really just take the win at Kawhia today and be satisfied with that,” Mead said, after blasting his Yamaha YZ450F to victory at the steep and rocky farmland venue, midway between Otorohanga and Kawhia, on the rugged west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

“I will race at least three rounds of the GNCC (on the east coast of the US), riding for the WMR Team based in Florida.

“I had my first experience of racing the GNCC by doing several rounds last year. My best finish was a fifth and I finished 15th overall after contesting just nine of the 13 rounds.

“I’m feeling very fit at the moment and I believe I have the pace to match Whibley, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mead’s American adventure keeps him away from at least one, and possibly more, of the remaining rounds in the Kiwi enduro competition.

And that means it could be up to Palmerston North’s national cross-country champion Adam Reeves to uphold the honour for Yamaha.

Reeves finished second-equal at Kawhia on Saturday, with his elapsed time identical to that of Auckland’s Chris Power (Honda), the two men inseparable after a gruelling day of racing, although a 20-second penalty handed to Reeves for an apparent “starting infringement” was a tough lesson to learn and one that ultimately cost him dearly.

The battle for outright glory – and in the over-300cc four-stroke bike category – that now develops between Reeves and Power in the coming months will be worth watching.

However, for the time being at least, Mead showed he is still king of enduro in New Zealand.

“The track was wicked,” said Mead. “I was actually riding cautiously today because I didn’t want to injure myself before I fly out.”

The next round of the New Zealand Enduro Championships is scheduled for Northland on March 11, with rounds to follow at Whangamata on April 14, Waimiha on May 5 and, finally, Taupo on July 21.