CAPTION: Taupo’s Wil Yeoman (Yamaha), likely to be among the frontrunners in this season’s Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships series. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
The 2024 Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships series will again kick off in the South Island this coming weekend and once more it’s expected to be a torrid affair.
Four of the five rounds in this season’s series will offer twice the value because each of them will be two-day affairs, with the fifth-round finale a one-day competition.
The first two rounds of the championships are in the South Island and the remaining three in the North Island.
The series kicks off this coming Saturday just 75 kilometres north of Christchurch, on farmland at Omihi, with the back-to-back two days of racing sure to really sort the men from the boys and the women from the girls.
Hosted by the Christchurch Off-Road Motorcycle Club, this weekend’s racing will be held on challenging terrain at 1045 Reeces Road, Omihi, in North Canterbury, with the event signposted from Omihi School on State Highway One.
The first day on Saturday will be run in a sprint format, with day two on Sunday a traditional timecard enduro race.
Round two is set for just one week later, at 981 Whitecliffs Road, Coalgate Canterbury, inland from Christchurch, so the pressure will be on for riders to keep up their momentum.
The next two rounds are at separate venues – near Wellington and Martinborough respectively – on consecutive weekends in the North Island in June, with the fifth and final round a one-day competition, set for Bideford, near Masterton in November.
“The format we have set seems to be popular with the riders,” said Motorcycling New Zealand enduro commissioner Justin Stevenson.
“Having back-to-back weekends in both the North and South Islands will make it easier for riders and their support crews to form cost-effective travel plans and hopefully riders from both islands will be keen to make the trip across Cook Strait.
“The enduro sprints are basically terrain tests without so much of the endurance element, while the second day at each round will be more like a traditional enduro. This style of racing seems to be the current trend overseas and it should be a lot of fun,” he said.
Several leading riders from previous years, men such as Omihi’s defending New Zealand enduro champion Ethan McBreen, Helensville’s Tom Buxton and Wainuiomata’s extreme enduro expert Jake Whitaker, for example, are likely to be contenders again this season.
Other riders to watch out for this weekend may include Taupo’s Brad Groombridge, Oparau’s James Scott, Kaukapakapa’s Josh Jack, New Plymouth father and son pair Tony and Sam Parker, New Plymouth’s Josh Houghton, Nelson’s Bailey Basalaj, Whitianga’s James Kerr, Stoke’s Kurtis Bandy, Havelock North’s Tom Hislop and Rotorua’s just-crowned New Zealand cross-country champion Callum Dudson, among others.
“The venue this weekend is a mix of steep and flat farmland, so it will be fast in some places and quite tricky in others, fun but also challenging,” said Stevenson.
It’s interesting to note that this year’s International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) is set for Spain in October and the racing in New Zealand throughout this domestic series will help Stevenson make his selections for the New Zealand team to travel away for that.
In addition to Yamaha-Motor New Zealand, the 2024 NZ Enduro Championships are supported by Macaulay Metals, Best Build Construction, Silver-bullet and Kiwi Rider magazine.
2024 Yamaha NZ Enduro Champs calendar:
Round 1: April 20-21, 1045 Reece’s Road, Omihi, near Christchurch.
Round 2: April 27-28, 981 Whitecliffs Road, Coalgate, Canterbury.
Round 3: June 1-2, Porirua (signposted from SH 58, Haywards Hill Road) Moonshine Valley Road, Wellington.
Round 4: June 8-9, Ruakokoputuna Hall, near Martinborough.
Round 5: November 2, Bideford, near Masterton.
Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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