Winning a national motorcycling title is one thing but successfully defending it has often been described as the tougher of the two tasks.
But this is something Masterton builder Mason Wilkie, 22, is determined to achieve when he again tackles the New Zealand Motorcycle TT Championships at Kuratau, near Turangi,this weekend.
TT racing is very much like superbike racing but on soil instead of tarmac - it's a relatively flat paddock and there are no jumps to slow down the dirt bike racers.
The starting line-up for this weekend includes stars of motocross, cross-country, enduro and even road-racing, All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and super motard, and all will be hitting eye-watering speeds as they chase glory at the 13th annual Bike Torque Yamaha-sponsored national TT championships, at the southwestern tip of Lake Taupo.
The racing in the premier motorcycle category, the open class bikes, went right down to the wire last season before Wairarapa's Wilkie, aboard a Sargent Yamaha YZ450F, finally tipped the balance of power his way.
With three of the weekend's five races completed, Taupo's Cameron Dillon was on top of the open class standings, five points clear of Wilkie.
However, Wilkie led from the start in the next two races and was never headed, snatching away the title from Dillon. "It was just a matter of me getting out front and not looking back," Wilkie said.
"I crashed in the first race on Saturday, while I was leading, and had to fight back from dead last to finish third. That meant I was playing catch-up the whole weekend.
"It was a great feeling to win this - it was my first national title on a 450cc bike."
Wilkie has won 10 national titles in a variety of motorcycling codes and it is likely he will again be at the front at Taupo, although he will be wary of the challenge posed by fellow Yamaha ace Toby Summers of Auckland.
Summers is an exponent of the super motard art, a form of racing that typically involves the same YZ450F dirt bikes used with such great effect in the motocross world, but is also closely aligned to road-racing.
"I've been training pretty hard. Not so much on fitness, because TT racing is not really about fitness as much as it is about bravery and speed. I've been working on my starting technique and maintaining a high cornering speed," Wilkie said.
The MX2 and 125cc classes are likely to feature Tauranga's Logan Blackburn, aboard a Yamaha, near the front, while Taranaki's Mitch Rowe, also riding a Yamaha machine, could be the man to watch in the veterans' class.
