This weekend I raced round 2 of the NZ Cross Country Nationals down in St Arnaud which is about 1.5hrs south east of Blenheim in the South Island.

The weather was good, and the terrain was dry & very rocky.

The Nelson Club had done a good job on the track marking side of things, but unfortunately they lived up to there reputation of marking ridiculously fast tracks.

This prompted the majority of the riders to express there concerns at the post race prize giving.

Rider safety and the sports progression are hot topics right now, I won't go into detail but I will say that I'm concerned about this matter and will back any one pushing for improvements to be made. 

As for the race itself I got off to a good start around 8th position I think and began battling with riders as I tried to make my way towards the front, by the 1hr mark I had secured 2nd but promptly lost it as I needed to pit for fuel.

I regained 2nd on the following lap at set after KTM's Shaun Foggarty who was about 30secs in front of me, we were running a hot pace and there was not a lot in it, I would pull him in on the limited technical sections of the track and he would pull away in the fast sections.

At one point I caught him up but couldn't make the pass, he was riding well & mistake free and was able to pull a small gap on me again.

Due to my fuel tank size I needed 3 fuel stops, subsequently this ended any chance at a run for the lead as Foggarty was running a large fuel tank on his KTM and didn't need to pit for fuel.

So I ended up 2nd on the day, but 2nd is still good and I was happy with my ride and Foggarty certainly rode well & deserved the win.

Results on the day:

1st: Shaun Foggarty (KTM)
2nd: Adam Reeves (Yamaha)
3rd: John O'dea (Suzuki)
4th: Sam Greenslade (Suzuki)
5th: Michael Vining (Suzuki)

Thanks to my sponsors:

- Yamaha NZ
- Sargent M/C
- Camelbak
- Carboshotz
- Bridgestone tyres
- Sargent Suspension Services
- Acerbis gear
- HJC helmets
- Sidi boots
- Progrip goggles
- DID chains
- Demon Energy
- Yamalube oils
- GYTR performance
- Agnew Auto Services
- MJ Custom Engineering