Busy BeesWelcome to another great issue of your favourite dirt bike mag. As always the DRD posse have been flat out this month, testing bikes, hitting the trails, racing, and roving the country to bring you what’s hot and what’s not.
The riding highlight for me this month was undoubtedly Desert Storm ’08. Nick Reader and his Epic Events crew did a marvellous job of putting on one of the best trail rides in the country, if not the Southern Hemisphere – check out the full report on page 66.
A few big ups are due this month, firstly to our two intrepid staff writers, the Power Ranger and the Jinja Ninja. Big Chris took out the overall win at Round 3 of the North Island Enduro champs with a convincing win aboard his Cameron Honda CRF250R, while Big Red won one of his classes at the 2008 DRD Valley Champs, and finished a creditable 9th in the 250 support class – nice one boys. Also we wish super-nice fella and reigning National 250 champion Michael Phillips all the best on his quest for glory in the upcoming British National MX champs and Masters Series. Michael showed consistent form both domestically and in Australia last year and we hope this will be the springboard for the GP career he’s looking to establish.
Congratulations also to the Nelson and Tokoroa Motorcycle clubs for hosting the first two excellent rounds of the National Supercross champs. As I write this, we’re one day out from Round 3 in Auckland and the guys at C & L Sorenson Earthmoving have done an awesome job of building the track outside the TelstraClear Events centre. I’m sure it’ll be a great night and hopefully Auckland’s sporting public will discover you don’t need a funny shaped ball to witness some spectacular action and the talent of some of our athletes. Check out next month’s DRD for a full report from Manakau.
Something else to look out for next month is our Junior Motocross Nationals preview. Josh will be heading down to the North King Country to find out the goss for this year’s event.
Which brings me nicely to the new National classes. Motorcycling New Zealand (MNZ) have a new format for classes for the 2008 season and beyond. Motocross commissioner Mike (Macca) McLeod must be commended on his efforts obtaining feedback from the motorcycling community and from what we can see, the new MX1, MX2, and 125 two-stroke classes are definitely a step in the right direction. MX1 and 2 will help bring NZ’s classes into line with the rest of the motocrossing world, while the two-tier 125cc two-stroke class should allow our less confident youngsters an easier transition into the senior ranks, whilst providing a lower budget alternative for older senior riders. An additional round has also been announced, but for full details on the new classes log onto
www.mnz.co.nz and see for yourself.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue of DRD, and keep it safe and quiet out there.
Fraser
fraser@drd.co.nz
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