Motorsport: Off road elite return for more action

If it's true there is no rest for the wicked, then New Zealand's off-road motorcycling elite must be very bad men indeed.

The swelling has gone down, while bruised egos and battered bodies are just starting to heal after the first round of the KTM Extreme Enduro Series two weeks ago, so what better time to throw more stresses and strains at these bike riders than to give them round two this weekend?

The second of four rounds in this inaugural KTM Extreme Enduro Series is set for the South Waikato region this Saturday - the first Tokoroa Endurocross.

The event is at the Tokoroa A&P; Showgrounds, a venue close to town that organiser Sean Clarke expects will attract a large number of excited spectators.

"The course is being set up over the next few days and it will be a great track," said Clarke.

"Local businesses have come to the party, supplying most of the material for the track build. The course will be fairly flowing and nothing too hard, that is for sure. There will be plenty of choice of riding lines through the rock section.

"On the day, all riders will have two races each in their respective classes. Then all riders will take part in a knockout system of races that will progress the top riders through to a grand final."

Some of the top riders entered include Aucklanders Mike Skinner, Chris Power, Mike Davis and Freddie Milford-Cottam, Wellington's six-time national moto trials champion Jake Whitaker, Rotorua's Scott Birch, Atiamuri's Duncan McLaren and Tokoroa pair Mark Newton and Jesse Clarke.

The winner of round one, in the Riverhead Forest west of Auckland, was 25-year-old Skinner (KTM 250XCF), followed by Davis and Milford-Cottam, with New Plymouth's Dougy Herbert, Whitaker, and Tauranga's Jim Lowe-Pattie rounding out the top six.

All of these top finishers were on KTM bikes, making it an incredible KTM clean sweep of the event they also sponsor.

Round three is set for Te Puke on February 9, with the fourth and final round the No Way In Hell extreme enduro at Oparau, near Kawhia, on March 30-31.

Calendar: Round two: December 1, Tokoroa Endurocross; Round three: February 9, Te Puke Endurocross; Round four: March 30-31, No Way In Hell, Oparau, near Kawhia.