The second round of the 2004 Suzuki Central Enduro Series was held on Sunday 14th of March at Makara, a sleeply little hollow just west of Wellington.
This excellent event is famed for its hills and Sunday\'s event will only enhance that reputation.
Chris Birch (KTM 250) won the Expert class but didn\'t have everything his own way as Glen Manning (Hus TE450), with the advantage of a home-track, managed to pip Chris by 3 seconds in the first terrain test. Glen finished the day in second place, 14 seconds adrift. Sean Clarke (Suz RMZ250) was third, a further 10 seconds back.
Steven Bird (Yam WRF250) lost 20 minutes after using his muffler as a straw in one of the more bizarre incidents of the year. He didn\'t fall off, he didn\'t get wet, and he wasn\'t near a river, but he still managed to cover his exhaust with water and somehow suck in a lungful! Ask him about it sometime.
Stephen Sergeant (Suz RMZ250), another man-on-a-mission, hit a log while passing a rider and DNF\'ed as a result of the subsequent endo.
The Enduro 1 class was hotly contested between Mark Fleming (Hon CRF250) and Sam Swanson (Suz RMZ250). Sam finished in second place, a mere 6 seconds behind Mark. Their times were good enough to place them in the top half of the Expert field. However, the most interesting bike in this class was the Suzuki DF200 riden by Mark Anderson. It may not be the future of Enduros but Mark seemed to be having a ball.
The Enduro 2 class was won by Willy Rathbone (Hon CRF450).
The Novice/Youth class was won by Dean Wyborn (Yam WRF450) from Richard Redmond (WRF250) and Hazel Rushworth (KTM 450).
Hazel usually rides a small Kawasaki but couldn\'t refuse the offer of the big KTM despite her KDX200 probably being the better bike for the some of the goat tracks on this ride. It just goes to show how good the 450 is when an 18 year-old girl can jump on one (she started it for the first time on the start line!) and successfully pilot it around 130 kms of a demanding Enduro.
Dave Sullivan (Suz DRZ400) turned in a good steady ride to convincingly beat Richard Downer (Suz RMX250) in the every popular Veterans class.
Sunday was also the day that all Terrain Tests were scored with new Palm Pilots. Yes, there were a few teething problems: the software still needs a few tweaks and a little more attention needs to be paid to instructing the crews but, overall, it was very good. At least in the short term this is definitly the future for Enduro results. Hopefully it will mean
The weather was great, the views down the coast and across to the South Island were incredible, the hills were awesome, and there was even a ride down the beach. This event is a credit to the sport and Brendon Keogh and his team deserve full marks. Long may it last.