The Northern Experience Track 'n' Trail Series climaxed with exciting offroad action at The Farm, in Whangaruru. About 70 riders turned out for the third and final round of the inaugural series on Saturday - an increase in numbers from the previous two rounds, organiser Kiri Nield said. "It takes a whileto establish a new series but we are happy with the turnout. It went well ... we will definitely be back next year, it's now an annual event," she said. Three rounds made up the series - Mangawhai, then Hikurangi, and finally Whangaruru. The event was organised to provide more accessible racing for Northland competitors, and to promote the sport.
While some old faces dominated certain classes, there were many new riders in action with plenty of talent coming up through the grades. Rawene's Mitchell Nield took out the series' overall highest Expert title after cleaning up in the Expert 301-open four-stroke class in all of the three rounds, on his Kiwi Rider-sponsored test bikes. Nield also won his class title - which was calculated on points from his top two rounds, while his brother Damon won the Expert 0-300 four-stroke class overall. Kaiwaka Suzuki's Kelvin Platt earned the series' overall highest Senior Intermediate honours, after three outstanding rounds in his class. The seniors' two-hour off-road race took place on some of The Farm's 400 hectares of difficult and technical terrain. Meanwhile, 28 juniors contested a 90-minute race earlier in on Saturday with two Raglan boys dominating the field. Brandon Given, 15, won the race, with Jason Dickey,16, in second. The boys also backed up to race in the senior two-hour race, placing second and third respectively. See Sport in Detail on page 13 for full results.
