Coromandel's Jason Davis is sending a message loud and clear - the off-road motorcycle ace from Whangamata wants his national title back.
The KTM rider headed overseas soon after clinching last year's New Zealand Enduro Championships and commitments to race in Britain meant he was unable to defend his Kiwicrown this season.
Now he's back in New Zealand and reckons he's faster than ever. He's also hungry to reclaim glory on the domestic scene, while at the same time showing his rivals just how much he's learned overseas these past 12 months. The evidence of his increased speed came earlier this month when he won the opening round of the popular Bel Ray Cross-country series near Maramarua.
But the 23-year-old forestry worker made life difficult for himself - riding a 2012-model KTM 350 XCF, he was the last to get away at the start and had to battle through intense traffic for the opening two laps.
"I was up to third after two laps and then set about trying to get past the leaders," Davis said, referring to Auckland's Chris Power, on a Honda CRF450, and Mokau's Adrian Smith, on a Yamaha YZ250F.
"I grabbed the lead and then had a pretty quick pit for fuel and managed to stretch my advantage to just over two minutes over Power."
Davis maintained that advantage and, at the end of his seventh lap, was still under the two hours, so set out for an eighth lap. By the time Power arrived at the line the two hours had elapsed, so his race was over and he was forced to settle for runner-up spot.
Davis has been making it a habit to win lately, having cleaned up at the Nut Buster extreme enduro near Christchurch three weeks ago and winning the opening round of the Grand National Cross-country Championships at Matata a fortnight ago, despite an injured hand.
