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Photo - Karl Power, at Tokoroa 2004:
HAMILTON rider Karl Power was in devastating form to easily win the second round of the AMPs Grand National Cross Country series at Matata, Bay of Plenty on Sunday.
In a blistering display on his Honda CR250, Power took the lead three quarters of the way around the first lap to be leading by almost a minute when he crossed the line for the start of his second lap. From that point he stretched his lead for the next three laps before easing off a little on the final 25 km loop to win by a staggering 5m 34s from Wellington KTM rider Glen Manning. His cousin Chris Power (Honda CRF450) was third, a further 3m 33s down on Manning.
Swedish rider Mickael Lundin, second outright at the series opener at Woodhill Forest in October, rode a Honda CRF230 to fourth outright at Matata and was just a minute and a half behind third placed Chris Power at the end of the five laps.
The way Karl Power approached the steep down-hill before the finish was indicative of the way he rode the entire course. Most riders treated the down hill stage with great caution. Power by contrast attacked this section almost as as if if was an uphill, powersliding through the top turns, then gassing it down through the numerous ruts and bounding over some of the humps, radiating absolute confidence. However, in reality he says it was far from being that easy.
"It¹s a nice one eh!" he joked. "I had a few close calls coming down those bumps. It¹s a very tricky section. We had the GNCC here last year so it helps knowing this big down hill. You had to use your head and look a long way ahead. It also helped watching the riders in the earlier races taking note of the lines they were takingŠ "
"It was a combination of braking and accelerating all at the same time and keeping it under control," Power added.
What made his win even more impressive was the fact not only his goggles, but the clear plastic tear-offs dirt riders use, fogged badly. As a consequence, he threw his goggles away at the end of the first lap.
His cousin Chris took the early lead and was in front until tossing it away, letting Manning through. Power picked up his 450 Honda and gave chase. Just as he was about to make his move, Karl Power dived past the pair of them and accelerated away
"I couldn¹t even see him after that," Chris Power revealed. "He was riding great. He just left us for dead. He¹s pretty good in the bush to be quite honest. He was just doing it today!"
After finishing sixth at Woodhill, Karl Power¹s win at Matata gave him the lead in the No Fear Elite class by just two points over Mickael Lundin. Manning is third in the series on 81 points, with Chris Power fourth on 74..
In the Bridgestone-backed Pro class, it was Reese Burgess (KTM 125) who claimed the win at Matata by a substantial four minutes and six seconds from Gas Gas rider Chris Jeffery with Maurice Ebbett (Yamaha YZ250F) third, another 1m 28s in arrears.
Curiously, these three riders are now tied on 79 points at the top of the Pro class table. That¹s because at the first round, Ebbett finished fourth, Jeffery was seventh and Burgess was 12th.
In the RK Chain¹s Expert class, Peter Flexman (KTM 250EXC) has moved into the series led, adding a third place finish at Matata to his class win at Woodhill while Mark Webb (Husqvanra TE450) is second with second at Woodhill added to an eighth place finish at Matata.
Second place at Matata gave Paul Burgess (KTM 250EXC) third in the series points.
Class winner at Matata was Hayden Power (Yamaha YZ250F). However, with no points from Woodhill, he is still only tenth in the series.
Suzuki rider Gary Almond leads a big field in the FFM Helmets Clubman class, top scoring both the Woodhill and Matata rounds on his RM125 to establish a 20 point break over second in series Alister Roberts (Honda CR250) who has scored 6-2 in the first two rounds.
Jim Corbett (Honda CR250) was third at Matata and with his tenth placed finish at Woodhill, moves up to third in the Clubman series point standings.
The Alpinestars backed ATV class saw Roger MacDonald (Yamaha YZF450) shoot to the top of the points standings with a win at Matata over Ben Martin (Yamaha YZF450). Martin¹s runner-up position at Matata took him to third on the points table, just behind Alister Cole (Honda TRX450) who added a third place finish at Matata to his third place finish at Woodhill.
Round one ATV winner Mike Higgie (Suzuki LTZ400) is now fourth on points after a tie-rode broke at Matata, ending his challenge. And another fancied ATV rider who had a miserable day at Matata was Edgecumbe¹s Grant Schuler. He ended up with his Yamaha stuck firmly in a swamp!
RESULTS
AMPs Grand National Cross Country championship series, Round Two, Matata.
