Rotorua's Lauder looks to improve on fifth

Rotorua's Bradley Lauder (KTM), was among the leading riders at the opening round of the national series last weekend. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.comBikesportNZ.com

Rotorua's Bradley Lauder is sitting in the top five going into the second round of the 2017 New Zealand Enduro Championship this weekend.

There's been little rest for the riders with the second round coming just a week after the first at St Arnaud, south of Nelson.

The short turnaround offers little time to repair or maintain bikes and even less time than usually needed to recover from any injuries. They'll be at it again with round two set for Whangamata tomorrow .

Racing was close in the South Island last weekend and it should be a similar story again this weekend, with the same frontrunners likely to feature.

Christchurch's Angus Macdonald performed brilliantly on the gruelling terrain near Nelson, but he had some heavy-hitters for company on the podium, with Taupo's defending national champion Brad Groombridge finishing runner-up and Helensville's Tom Buxton in third spot overall.

Titirangi's Callan May finished fourth, Lauder was fifth and Mokau's former national enduro champion and multi-time former national cross-country champion Adrian Smith rounded out the top six.

Angus Macdonald's brother, Hamish Macdonald, also one of the country's elite enduro exponents, had a nightmare at Nelson, finishing only 17th overall after he mistakenly missed a check-point, so he will be out to rectify matterstomorrow.

There is still a long way to go in this six-round championship series and riders know they really need to pocket good points in these early stages of the competition.

All events count for overall honours, but riders will count only five of the six rounds in terms of the individual bike classes. As riders discard their one worst score, it should keep the title hunt close until the final round.

Racing tomorrow is in the Taungatara Forest, off State Highway 25, between Whangamata and Hikuai.

Round three is set for the Moonshine Valley, north of Wellington, on March 18, followed by round four near Christchurch on May 6 and then Waitawhiti Station, east of Eketahuna, on June 3.

Finally, it all wraps up near Tokoroa just two days later, on June 5.