Groombridge Wins Acerbis Suzuki Four-Hour

Taupo's Brad Groombridge and his Suzuki have done it again.

Last year the 26-year-old Taupo locksmith was unable to extend his outright win record at the Suzuki-sponsored Acerbis Four-Hour cross-country race, settling instead for fifth overall, although that was still good enough for him to take the ironman (solo rider) class win anyway.

But this time around he was unstoppable, impressively winning Saturday's 2016 edition of the endurance race outright and also adding another ironman class win to his trophy haul.

Groombridge is no stranger to riding this event solo – the gruelling marathon had been won outright by Groombridge in 2013 and 2014, on both those occasions competing as an ironman and also riding a 450cc four-stroke Suzuki.

He had created history with that 2013 victory, becoming the first man to win it as an ironman, and he had also previously won the race outright in 2010, when part of a two-rider team, sharing the riding duties that day with Hawera's Daryl Hurley.

And so, as a many-time frontrunner and multi-time winner, he was heavily favoured to win outright again on Saturday.

However, when the shotgun blasted to signal the start at about 11am, Groombridge was late to get away, taking several kicks to fire his bike into life and so he was stuck in traffic among the 163-rider field.

Groombridge had his work cut out, but he had charged past more than 30 riders to be up to seventh position by the end of the first 38-minute lap, the race at that stage being led by the pairing of Reporoa's Hadleigh Knight (who holeshot the race) and Tauranga's Aaron Wiltshier.

"It was pretty sketchy and, if I wasn't concentrating all the time, it could have gotten nasty for me. I got out of shape a couple of times, but managed to save it," Groombridge said.

Groombridge was in the lead by the end of lap two and never looked back after that, although he did have some very fast riders giving chase, with the two-rider teams of Knight and Wiltshier, Rhys Carter and Nick Saunders, Liam Draper and Sam Greenslade, Peter Broxholme and Chris Power all within strike distance at various times during the race.

In the end, Groombridge took the chequered flag by less than two minutes from the Carter/Saunders pairing, with Draper and Greenslade finishing third overall, nearly four minutes further back.

Groombridge was the only ironman rider to complete seven laps and the only individual to ride for what became a total of four hours and 26 minutes – a herculean effort.

It has been a stellar season for Groombridge.

Earlier this season Groombridge also won the New Zealand Enduro Championships in the expert grade and won the New Zealand Cross-country Championships in the open grade as well. He is also currently national MX1 class No.5 in the motocross rankings.

Words and photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com