Billy McArdle (left), Warren Laugesen and Aksel McArdle at the 2025 North Island Trails Championship Rounds 5 and 6 in Napier. Photo / Connull Lang
Billy McArdle (left), Warren Laugesen and Aksel McArdle at the 2025 North Island Trails Championship Rounds 5 and 6 in Napier. Photo / Connull Lang
For mud-loving motorbike riders in Hawke’s Bay, the wet weekend wasn’t one for hunkering down.
The latest two rounds of the North Island Moto Trials Championships saw the top riders from across the country competing to find out who could most skilfully move their motorbikes across obstacles.
Held across twoproperties in Dartmoor and Puketapu, the Saturday and Sunday event provided plenty of action on the back hills of Napier.
Event organiser Thomas McArdle compared the weekend’s events to a ride around a mud-logged mini putt course.
At each location, there were 12 stages – 24 in total.
Each stage featured a track, path or obstacle that each competitor must ride across on their motorbike.
Where most motorsports are about racing against other vehicles or the clock, moto trial is a non-speed event raced on specialised motorcycles. Each touch of the ground off the bike earns each competitor points.
“It’s a very technical, skilled sport. It’s not just put your foot down and or twist the throttle and hold on,” explained McArdle.
“You’re riding a motorbike over technical terrain.
“You have to ride with skill, and the aim is to get the lowest points.”
Among the big names attending was seven-time New Zealand moto trial champion and local rider Warren Laugesen.
Laugesen was one of the main organisers and helped set the course out. He’s said the moto trial tracks out the back of Taradale are world-class, which made the wet weather all that much worse for him.
“You always try and make it suitable for the conditions, but it just deteriorated through each day,” he said.
Despite the tough conditions, Laugesen came first in the T2 grade.
Laugesen said he was impressed by the younger competitors not giving up under the tough conditions through all of the grades.
“The perseverance and commitment from all the young riders was great to see,” he said.
Among those young riders sticking it out in the cold and dirt were McArdle‘s sons Aksel and Billy, aged 14 and 15 respectively.
Aksel McArdle practicing moto trials. Photo / Thomas McArdle
The two Taradale High School students managed to place third and fourth in the green grade, which their father said was a strong position to gain in one of the most competitive classes.
The next event will be the National Moto Trial Championships, held in Taranaki over Labour Weekend in October, which McArdle said would be a really challenging event that everyone is gearing up for by training at the trial course on Mere Rd in Fernhill.
McArdle said anyone interested in trying out moto trials can contact Hawke’s Bay Motorcycle Club for more information.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.
