Motorsport: Tarawera 100

A 10am shotgun blast on Saturday will set free a full-throttle wave of more than 200 motorcycles.
The spectacular dash across a maize paddock in a storm of bright colours and flying mud is the traditional start of the Tarawera 100, a unique and demanding motorcycle race that takes place near Kawerau for the 34th year this weekend.
Ahead of the riders will be 160km - the name refers to the pre-metric era when the race was 100 miles - through farmland and forestry trails.
Each lap is roughly 40km and success depends not only on speed and technique through the fire breaks, narrow tracks, sandy hillclimbs and mud holes but also a pit crew that can refuel the bike, swap goggles and hand over a much-needed drink and perhaps a banana or energy bar.
Tauranga's Reece Burgess is the third generation of his family to have raced in the Tarawera 100. He's started eight previous Tarawera 100s and gained his best finish last year with fifth place and victory in the Enduro bike class.
Burgess says the Tarawera 100 is a unique event.
"What makes it good is we have just had the Leatt 4-hour and there are other races like the Hawke's Bay Six Hour. And although there's an ironman class in those races it's the team event that seems to get the most recognition.
"But at the Tarawera 100 it's one hundred miles, one bike and one rider. Every one of those 200 or so riders has the same goal."
Burgess also likes that the Tarawera 100 brings motorcycling together.
"It's not like an enduro and it's not like a cross country. It's a bit like 100 miles of motocross. It gets the best riders from all the dirt bike sports and mixes it up."
Burgess is a thoughtful rider who carefully plans the 160km aboard his big Husaberg FX450 enduro machine.
"It's very important to get a good start. Last year I was third off the start and I could relax a bit. It just makes it a lot more enjoyable.
"You have to plan how you're going to spend your energy. If you don't, then everyone will pass you on the last lap."
Burgess is 31 and an experienced enduro and cross country rider and says he doesn't worry about the other riders but rather concentrates on running his own race.
"I'm a conservative rider because I have to go to work on Monday. I like to keep pace. I don't like to go fast knowing I won't be able to keep going at that speed."
But while reaching the finish in a top position is the goal, Burgess knows the most exciting part of the event is those first few seconds.
"Everyone loves the shotgun start. It's so noisy and so exciting. My bike is quiet and if it doesn't start first time I will have no idea if it is running or not."
A strong field will line up for Saturday's event, with national MX1 motocross champ Cody Cooper (Papamoa) expected to turn to up seeking his third title on a Suzuki RM-Z450.
Yamaha's Adrian Smith (Mokau) joins Burgess as leading riders from the ranks of enduro and cross country sport while the topline motocross racers include MX2 national champion Darryll King (Hamilton) riding a Yamaha 250.
Top local motocross racers Rhys Carter (Mt Maunganui), Scott Barr-Smith (Tauranga) and Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) have also entered. Broxholme has twice finished fourth - in 2007 and 2008.
Carter, 21, who finished sixth in the MX2 class of the 2011 NZ Motocross Champs, missed last year's race while recovering from a motocross injury but has a class win and a ninth overall as his best previous effort in 2007.
"It's about getting a good start and then backing off 5 or 10 per cent from motocross pace so you don't blow yourself out," said Carter. "If I can do that and keep it under control my goal is a top-three finish."
This year's Tarawera 100 is sponsored by Bay Honda and covers the now traditional four laps of about 40km.
The start-finish venue, pits and main spectator viewing is at Tahuna Rd, Te Teko. The race starts at 10am and the top riders will take about three hours to complete the race.
Kiwi attack
Bay of Plenty riders Cody Cooper and Michael Phillips provided two-thirds of a powerful three-pronged Kiwi attack on the Australian Motocross Nationals on Sunday.
Suzuki's Cooper (Papamoa) and Honda racer Phillips (Mt Maunganui) finished second and fourth respectively at round seven of the Aussie nationals at Albury-Wodonga on the NSW-Victoria border.
Splitting them were Motueka's Josh Coppins (Yamaha) who finished third overall.
In wet and muddy conditions Yamaha's Jay Marmont took the round victory with a first, third, seventh and first in the four moto format to score 84 points.
New Zealand champ Cooper was well-placed to take the overall win with two second placings followed by a win in moto three. He was leading the final moto when he crashed mid-race and lost time. He finished ninth, which left him on 81 points.
Coppins' 4-1-6-2 scorecard earned him 80 points and Phillips claimed 3-8-5-4 results to score 67.
Kawasaki's Dean Ferris retained the championship lead while Coppins moved ahead of Scotland's Billy McKenzie into second place and is now only 14 points behind Ferris.
Phillips has maintained sixth overall in the championship and Cooper - who has now posted six moto wins this year - is still in eighth place after missing one round through injury.
The remaining races in the Australian MX Nationals are at Moree, NSW, on July 24 followed by the final at Coolum in Queensland on July 31.