News Release

Suzuki's Smith a Hat trick Hero

19 May 2008
Marton's Cam Smith became a hat-trick hero on Sunday and he reckons he's not finished yet.
 
The 31-year-old farmer wrapped up the Suzuki-sponsored New Zealand Cross-country Championship series with a round to spare on Sunday when he won the third of four rounds near Pahiatua.
 
The Rangitikei man rode his immaculate Suzuki RM-Z450 to victory at both rounds one and two of the competition in Nelson and Waipukurau and, after taking victory again at Pahiatua on Sunday; he has put himself into an unbeatable position with just the final round in Ashburton left to run.
 
Just three of the four rounds to score towards the championship -- riders able to discard their one worst result -- and that means Smith has compiled the perfect 1-1-1 score, with the final round on June 14 now little more than a formality.
But, despite his domination, Smith had a fight on his hands on Sunday with his two main challenger’s right on his tail as he entered the refueling zone for the final time.
 
In the end, Smith took the win ahead of Pahiatua's Adam Reeves, with Awakino's Adrian Smith fading to finish two minutes behind.
 
"I am still required to race at Ashburton, even though I've won the title, and I'll be going for gold there too," said Cam Smith afterwards. "It will be nice to score a clean sweep for the series. That's the aim now.
 
"Adrian rode hard at the start but I managed to stay with him. Then Adam made a charge. It was tight during that final fuel stop but I knew I had energy to burn and I could see they were tiring.
 
"The track was tough ... with it becoming rough in the end and the sun in my eyes made it difficult too, but I felt very good and the bike ran great.
 
"The pressure is off for me now, but I still want to win at Ashburton."