Motorsport: Ffitch shakes up champs

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It was a perfect weekend for Amberley's Ian Ffitch.

The Honda star drove up from the quake-ravaged Canterbury region to do a little earth-shaking of his own at the New Zealand TT Championships at Kuratau, near Turangi, romping to his first outright win at the annual Bike Torque Yamaha-sponsored event.

With his Honda Sportrax 450R, the 41-year-old took the ATV open class, recording a string of five convincing wins at the two-day event and eclipsing three-time previous champion Quentin Palmer in the process.

Turangi's Palmer (Suzuki) finished runner-up, his 2-3-3-2-2 results leaving him 19 points behind Ffitch.

"This is the first time I've won the TT nationals and it's certainly nice to be so dominant," said Ffitch.

"I've always been at the sharp end of the field but Quentin has usually been too strong. It was my turn to be strong this year.

"I got tangled in the first turn of the first race last year and had to spend the whole weekend playing catch-up. This time around it was up to everyone else to try and catch me, so that was nice for a change."

Meanwhile, with the two-wheeled bike racers, it was a heart-warming family affair for Cameron and Alex Dillon; the Taupo brother and sister each claimed class wins.

Alex Dillon, 17, rode her Honda CRF250 to an unbeaten string of wins and easily headed the women's class from Matamata's Kelly Kneebone (Yamaha).

Her 18-year-old sibling, Cam, may have felt robbed after having a solid grip on the senior open class and 250cc class crowns, but then having to settle for just one title.

Cam Dillon (Honda CRF250) was almost untouchable in the 250cc class but the open class was the one that got away.

With three of the five races completed, he was on top of the class standings, five points clear of Masterton's Mason Wilkie (Yamaha YZ450F).

However, Wilkie won the last two races to snatch the title, winning it by just one point.

Wilkie was ecstatic about his title win.

"I was two points behind Cam heading out to that final race. I knew I had to win that last race if I wanted the title. But the pressure was more on Cam than it was on me. The title was mine to win and his to lose," said the 21-year-old.

"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's a great feeling to win this ... it's my first national title on a 450cc bike."

Other class winners at the weekend were: Auckland's Matthew Wickstead, junior ATV; Rotorua's Tony Smales, veteran ATV; Rotorua's Emma Smales, ATV open women; Te Awamutu's Ryan Thompson, senior bikes under-200cc; Auckland's Toby Summers, veterans over-35; New Plymouth's Mitch Rowe, veterans over-40; Taumarunui's Russell Josiah, veterans over-50; Wellington's Josh Bartosh, junior 125-250; Christchurch's Dylan Walsh, junior 13-16 years; Taupo's Wyatt Chase, junior 8-12 years.