Motorsport: King reigns supreme at Tarawera 100

Riders take off at the start of the Tarawera 100. Photo / Andy McGechan

Cambridge's Damien King reigned again at the Tarawera 100 cross-country motorcycle endurance race in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday.

The winner of the great race last year, the Yamaha ace made it back-to-back wins by dominating again, taking the lead soon after the start at this year's 32nd running of the event and pushing out his advantage to finish a minute and a half ahead of runner-up Karl Power (KTM).

Auckland's Power had the "Flying Scotsman" hard on his heels, the expatriate Scotsman Barry Morris (Yamaha), now of Wellington, taking the third podium spot at the end of the gruelling three-hour, 100-mile (160km) Tony Rees Yamaha-sponsored race.

Rain threatened but it never arrived, making for perfect racing conditions on the rolling farmland course, just a stone's throw from the pulp and paper factory at Kawerau.

Rotorua's Cam Negus (Yamaha) quickly snatched the lead after the shotgun blast signalled the start at 10am, the former Tarawera 100 race winner leading more than 250 of the country's elite off-road racers out of the main paddock.

However, he was soon overtaken by Power and King's elder brother Darryll (Yamaha), while Cambridge's Kieran Leigh (Yamaha) and Damien King also moved up the standings.

By the end of the second lap, Damien King was in front, taking advantage as those ahead ahead made mistakes, taking wrong turns or slipping from their bikes.

From there, it was perhaps a foregone conclusion as the 33-year-old turned up the wick, stretching his lead at every turn.

"I simply didn't make any mistakes," said Damien King afterwards. "I backed off on the last lap to ensure I didn't push too hard and crash ... job done. Yamaha sponsors this race, so it was good to do the right thing for them."

Power, who was making his debut at the event, punched the air as he crossed the finish, thrilled with his runner-up result first time out. "It's definitely a tough race," said the enduro ace. "But I really enjoyed it."

Morris, originally from Edinburgh but now a Kiwi resident, said he was amazed by King's pace.

"I don't know how he goes that fast," said Morris. "I had no idea where I was going half the time."