With two wins from two starts, Taupo's Brad Groombridge is well on target to successfully defend his senior New Zealand Cross-country Championships title this season.
The third round of four is set for farmland in Marlborough this weekend and unless someone can put a stop to Groombridge's win streak on
Sunday the Suzuki man will make it two national cross-country titles in successive seasons.
Groombridge is also the defending national enduro champion and always a top competitor in the MX1 class in national motocross championship races, showing his versatility and giving him a good allround skillset.
Only three of the four rounds in the cross-country series are to be counted with riders discarding their one worst results so now is certainly the time for Groombridge's rivals to strike.
Aucklander Sam Greenslade (KTM) has been Groombridge's toughest rival in the cross-country nationals this season with the financial adviser from Coatesville twice finishing runnerup to Groombridge and probably the man most likely to threaten again this weekend.
Third overall in the senior standings is Taupo's Nathan Tesselaar (KTM), while Te Kauwhata's Jacob Brown (KTM) and Raglan's Jason Dickey (KTM) round out the top five.
Meanwhile, in the junior grade, Cambridge's Seton Head (KTM), Raglan's Logan Shaw (Honda), Hamilton's Caleb Richardson (KTM), Raglan's Coby Rooks (Honda), Eltham's Adam Loveridge (Husqvarna) and Te Awamutu's Daniel White (Kawasaki) have been the standout individuals so far.
With a 3-2 scorecard from the earlier rounds, Head leads the title chase by six points from Rooks (2-7), with Richardson (4-4) third in the standings.
The 90-minute junior race is held in the morning, with the three-hour senior race to follow immediately.
