It will certainly be intense off-road motorcycle racing in the Wairarapa region this coming weekend, with a Who’s Who of Kiwi talent expected to flock to the province.

The 2024 Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships are on the home straight now with just the fifth and final round remaining, a rare one-day event, set for challenging terrain near Masterton on Saturday, and it will possibly be a tight four-rider race for the main trophy.

Oparau’s James Scott leads the way in the premier AA grade (expert level), but he has Taupo’s Brad Groombridge, Taupo’s Wil Yeoman and Nelson’s Bailey Basalaj for close company and any of these four men could snatch the title away on Sunday.  

Scott had been sidelined with an injury in recent weeks but has since be declared fit to race again and he will no doubt be determined to maintain his position at the top.

Scott is the current New Zealand MX2 (250cc) motocross champion and is also a former New Zealand cross-country champion, so an enduro title win this weekend would classify him among the best dirt bike racers this country has ever produced.

Groombridge is also an extremely competent motocross exponent and a multi-time former New Zealand enduro and cross-country champion, while Yeoman is enjoying a rich vein of form at the moment, the 2023 New Zealand cross-country champion having just won a major extreme enduro event near Taupo over Labour Weekend.

The fourth round of five in the 2024 Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships was held near Martinborough in June – the lengthy hiatus before this finale due to competitors being overseas, racing the International Six Days Enduro in Spain at the start of October – but that will probably only serve to make the riders even more fired up to perform this weekend.

“It was pleasing to see that more than 100 riders showed up for the two days of racing at Martinborough and we can be sure a large number will enter this weekend also,” said Motorcycling New Zealand enduro commissioner Justin Stevenson.

“This will actually be a triple-header event … as well as being the final round of the New Zealand champs, it will also be the final round of the separate-but-parallel North Island Enduro Champs and the Central Enduro Series as well.

“There will be two separate loops used on Saturday, a 35-kilometre course and a 15-kilometre course, which the riders will traverse twice each during the day, with separate TT sections as well, one in the forest and the other a motocross TT close to the pit area.”

The leaders in the various AA grade (expert level) bike classes after four rounds are Yeoman and Basalaj (first equal in E1, 0-200cc two-stroke and 0-300cc four-stroke class); Groombridge (E2, 201cc-to-open two-stroke class); Scott (E3, 301cc-to-open four-stroke class and Rangiora’s Kelly Paterson (Veterans’ over-40 years class).

The leading rider in the A grade (intermediate level) after round four at Martinborough is Christchurch’s Grant Oliver, with Tokoroa’s Mark Newton and then leading female rider Kylie Dorr, from Tapanui, rounding out the top three. Owaka’s Blake Affleck leads the B Junior grade after four rounds.

In addition to Yamaha-Motor New Zealand, the 2024 NZ Enduro Championships are supported by Macaulay Metals, Best Build Construction, Silver-bullet and Kiwi Rider magazine.

2024 Yamaha NZ Enduro Champs calendar:

Round 1: April 20-21, 1045 Reece’s Road, Omihi, near Christchurch.

Round 2: April 27-28, 981 Whitecliffs Road, Coalgate, Canterbury.

Round 3: June 1-2, Porirua (signposted from SH 58, Haywards Hill Road) Moonshine Valley Road, Wellington.

Round 4: June 8-9, Ruakokoputuna Hall, near Martinborough.

Round 5: November 2, Bideford, near Masterton.

Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com