Motorsport: Pressure on Mead as he contends five titles

Whitby's Rory Mead (Yamaha), top dog in five major off-road series. Photo / Supplied

Rory Mead may feel as though he has a huge target on his back.

The 22-year-old builder from Whitby has every right to feel under pressure - he is No1 in five major New Zealand off-road series with a flurry of races coming up to decide which way those champion titles will eventually go.

Mead leads overall in the national enduro championships with just one round remaining; he holds the No1 spot in the Yamaha Top Trail Rider (TTR) Central Enduro Series after three of five rounds; he is top of the parallel Yamaha Top Trail Rider (TTR) Northern Enduro Series after four of five rounds; he leads the New Zealand Cross-country Championships at the halfway point in the four-round series and he is also frontrunner in the North Island Cross-country Championships with just the fifth and final round remaining.

He knows the pressure is on and he can't afford a single slip.

"Hopefully I can keep it up," shrugged Mead.

"The pressure is certainly on me but I just try to block that out and concentrate on the job. I just take it one race at a time and do my best."

Mead's best was also good enough to win his class at the recent Australian Four-Day Enduro Championships at Orange, New South Wales.

Mead led home a Kiwi 1-2-3 in class 2 (for 220cc to 250cc two-stroke bikes), beating his New Zealand Enduro Championship rivals Jason Davis (Whangamata, KTM) and Karl Power (Auckland, KTM) to the finish at the dusty event two weeks ago.

"I'm actually not winning every race. But I don't have to ... consistency is what counts. I ride a two-stroke Yamaha YZ250 in the enduro events and a four-stroke Yamaha YZF450 in the cross-country races and both bikes have been brilliant for me.

"The big one I really want to win is the New Zealand Enduro Championships."

The final round is near Waimiha (in the King Country) this Saturday (May 16) and that's where Mead needs to fend off the assault from Power if he is to win the series outright.

And Mead will come under attack from an entirely different quarter for class honours too.

With riders able to discard their one worst result from the four rounds to determine the individual class honours, it gives five-times former national champion Chris Birch a mathematical chance of beating Mead to the E3 class trophy.

"It has been a lot of travelling for me this season," Mead admitted.

"And that gets to you after a while. Just recently, I was racing in the Woodhill Forest near Auckland on the Saturday and then near Waipukurau on the Sunday.

"I don't suppose there will be any let-up until I retire and I don't plan on doing that any time soon. I'm loving the bikes and loving the racing too."