Pahiatua's Adam Reeves has sounded the alarm bells for his motorcycle cross-country rivals.
The ease with which the 26-year-old ran away to a victory at the opening round of the Suzuki New Zealand Cross-country Championships near Christchurch on Sunday will have his opponents thinking hard.
Following a bad start, in
which he found himself outside of the top 40, Reeves quickly charged through the field, taking the lead about halfway through the three-hour race.
"I stalled the bike and it took me about five kicks to get going. I think I panicked a bit and rushed things and you can't afford to do that when the bike's hot."
Reeves eventually stretched out to a three-minute lead at the end.
He was chased home by national enduro championship leader Rory Mead (Yamaha YZF450), of Whitby, with Mokau's Adrian Smith (Yamaha WR250) and Christchurch rider Hayden McKay (Honda CRF450) who finished third and fourth respectively.
It was a remarkable resurrection for Reeves (Yamaha YZF450) who has been all but absent from top results in the early part of the season but, at the weekend, when it counted most, he was back to his best.
"I've had a bit of bad luck until now but, for the past three events, I have been going okay," he said, in classic understatement.
Reeves also won the Yamaha TTR Enduro Championship round at Pahiatua three weeks ago and the followed that up by winning round three of the North Island Cross-country Championships a fortnight ago.
"It was a really demanding track in Christchurch," he said. "It was mostly bulldozed tracks and that meant it was quite soft in places, and a bit of a motocross in some parts too."
In stretching his win streak to three consecutive events on Sunday, it sets Reeves up for a sparkling second half of the season.
The question being asked now is, can Reeves make it four major wins in a row?
The next round of the national cross-country series is virtually on Reeves' home turf, just up the road from his home, near Waipukurau, this coming weekend.
