News Release

Smith Takes Charge

23 April 2008
Marton's Cam Smith has grabbed the New Zealand Cross-country Championships series by the scruff of the neck and he's not letting go.
 
The four-round championship series kicked off near Nelson on Sunday and there was only one man in it from start to finish, Suzuki's Smith.
 
The 31-year-old Rangitikei sheep and beef farmer took his Suzuki RM-Z450 into the lead from the shotgun start and that was the last anyone saw of him.
 
As the race wore on, he settled into a rhythm, unconcerned by the chasing bunch.
 
"I was riding relaxed, trying to conserve energy. I think that all the enduro events I've been doing lately have given me a good base fitness."
 
The result was a huge boost to Smith, who had been under the weather with the flu all week and, besides that, had been experiencing a poor run in his cross-country racing.
 
"I'm really happy to finish the day on top and be ahead of everyone else," said Smith.
 
He has been racing the North Island Cross-country Championships, now three-fifths complete, but, until the weekend, had nothing going right for him.
 
"I was sick at one round of the North Island champs, broke a chain at another and then suffered a flat tyre at a third event," he said.
 
"And, to be honest, I didn't feel too flash in Nelson either. I had the flu all week."
 
But that didn't seem to slow him down at all.
 
Pahiatua's Adam Reeves finished second, with Te Kauwhata's Jason Moorfield third and Palmerston North's Morgan Dransfield finishing fourth.
 
"I knew Adam was there, not too far behind me, but I was having fun and not putting any pressure on myself."
 
The four-round series is sponsored this year by Suzuki and Castrol, making Smith's win on the bright yellow Suzuki just the sort of result his bosses would have wanted.
 
Expanded from one-day event to a four-round series this season, the racing is sure to be fierce as riders now have several opportunities to mount an attack on the title. In addition, only three of the four rounds count towards the final tally, so riders can drop their worst result, ensuring the title chase will be tight.
 
Round three follows near Pahiatua on May 18 and, finally, the series wraps up at Ashburton on June 14.