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Hawke\'s Bay hard man Adam Youren continued his long run in the top echelon of motorcycle cross-country racing with a victory in the opening round of the Suzuki national championship series at Huntly today.
He claimed the first round of the North Island section of the series, while Ryan Currie of Rangiora won the corresponding South Island event at Amberley, north of Christchurch.
Youren, who has finished in the top three of his championship class for 13 years running, got off to a relatively poor start on his Suzuki RM250 and could not catch leader Kevin Archer until halfway through the three-hour race, run in hot conditions on a 17km track. Archer, riding a new Suzuki DR-Z400, finished second outright and won the open four-stroke class.
\"It was a quite a challenging circuit, through some rugged up-and-down country,\" Youren said. \"It was pretty hard going but I still felt pretty good at the end.\"
Elliot \"Superman\" Kent of Hamilton led for the first lap on the powerful new Honda XR650, and continued on to finish third in his first championship ride on the bike the other riders christened \"Titanic\". Leading Hamilton rider Mark Penny had to pull out of the event early on, exhausted because he was suffering from the flu.
At Amberley\'s 22km circuit Currie led from the start on his Yamaha YZ250 and this turned out to be a big advantage, as following riders were held up by dust and a bottleneck at the bottom of a gully. He pulled away to win by five minutes from Christchurch rider Dean Heney on a smaller KTM 200. Third was the improving Alan Scales of Ashley, riding a Yamaha YZ400 four-stroke.
Results of first round of Suzuki National Cross-Country Motorcycle Championship.
North Island section, Huntly -
Open two-strokes:
Adam Youren (Hawke\'s Bay) Suzuki RM250, 1;
Stacey Oldeman (Te Puke) Honda CR250, 2;
Steven Bird (Pahiatua) Suzuki RM250, 3.
Up to 200cc two-strokes:
Kevin Hermansen (Norsweood) Honda CR125, 1;
Robbie Howie (Thames) Suzuki RM125, 2;
Brad Graham (Palmerston North) KTM 200, 3.
Open four-strokes:
Kevin Archer (Te Kuiti) Suzuki DR-Z400, 1;
Elliot Kent (Hamilton) Honda XR650, 2;
Sean Clarke (Tokoroa) Suzuki DR-Z400, 3.
Four-strokes up to 300cc:
Lance Sutton (Drury) Kawasaki KLX300,1 ;
Grant Riddell (Te Kauwhata) Honda XR250, 2;
Bruce Bedford (Pokeno) Honda XR250, 3.
South Island round one, Amberley -
Open two-strokes:
Ryan Currie (Rangiora) Yamaha YZ250, 1;
Mark Thompson (West Melton) Honda CR250, 2;
Jason McFadden (Woodend) Kawasaki KX250, 3.
Two-strokes up to 200cc:
Dean Heney (Christchurch) KTM 200, 1;
Rodney Bolton (Rangiora) Kawasaki KDX250, 2;
Glen Munro (Christchurch) Kawasaki KDX200, 3.
Open four-strokes:
Alan Scales (Ashley) Yamaha YZ400F, 1;
Steven Turner (Timaru) Honda XR400, 2;
Greg Wylie (Christchurch) Honda XR600, 3.
Four-strokes up to 300cc:
Matthew Squire (Timaru) Honda XR250, 1;
Stuart Davidson (Timaru) Kawasaki KLX300, 2;
Grant Munro (Christchurch) Honda XR250, 3.
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Bernard Carpinter
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