Chris Power - Race report & Honda Kids Camp Out

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday period and used up all the sun when it was available – which wasn’t often!

Crazy Cross

January 2nd

Whangaruru, Northland

On January 2 I headed up to The Farm, about an hour north of Whangarei. Every year The Farm has this Crazy Cross event on, which is basically an enduro cross set out around their airfield and surrounding forest and creek. A lot of work had been put into the track with logs, tires, step ups and drop offs, and a few creek jumps making for a fast paced and exciting track. A few big names were thee too by the names of Jason Davis and Rory Mead, as well as Sam Greenslade and the Nield brothers (who helped build the track).

The racing was very casual and more aimed to wards having a good time. But everyone know when the gate drops, a racer want to win. There was three rounds of racing and it really came down to myself and Mead, both on 450s and lapping a lot quicker than the rest of the field. In race one I got a good jump off the start and settled into second. Rory passed me for second, and then he made a pass for the lead. I followed suit and we both started pulling away from the rest of the field. That’s how race one ended. Race two I got the holeshot and lead the pack away for half a lap, until a bog/creek crossing where Jason Davis got a little squirrely ad lost control, using me and a way of staying on his bike. By the time I got going again I was last by a long way and fought my way back to fourth. In the final race, I got another holeshot and lead for two laps before making a mistake myself over a creek crossing and handing the lead to Mead again. I then followed him to the finish, again leaving the field behind.

A feature race then had the fastest 14 riders from the day and off the line I had forgotten to put my goggles on – they were sitting behind on me helmet! I stopped to put them on, dropping to last, and then dropped it on some slippery logs as some slower riders held me up and I picked a bad line. It was then catch up from 14th place and half a lap down, all the way up to the back wheel of second place. But I ran out of laps to pass.

Great, fun race! I really enjoy the Enduro Cross scene – its high intensity like motocross and super technical line trials – a good combo! The next enduro cross event is on February 11 at the Te Puke A&P show. Can’t wait for that.

Honda Kids Campout

January 6-8

Whangamata

After the trip up north – I headed down to Whangamata to do some kids coaching at the Honda Kids campout. Broxy has a Supercross scheduled so I was the Honda fill in for the weekend. I spend all of Friday and nearly all of Sunday teaching kids the basics of riding; clutch control, balance, braking, throttle control – it was a really fun weekend, but super exhausting. Unfortunately the rain came on Saturday with turned the awesome track a little trickier. But everyone that started and gave the wet, slippery conditions a go had a blast!

Next Up

The next big event I am gearing up for is the first round on the New Zealand Enduro Champs. The goal this year is firstly to win the 450cc class, which I easily have the bike to do it on. And also be up there challenging for the outright win as well. It is not going to be easy as there is a lot of talent this year stepping up so every round is going to have to count. 2012 is going to be a good year!

Chris Power