Watts Collects Overall And Class Win For PWR Yamaha Team At Second Enduro Round

PWR Yamaha’s Tommy Watts went away from the first round of the Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships determined to ride harder, and only one week later, he did just that.

Each of the four enduro rounds features two days of back-to-back racing, which tests the riders’ grit, strength and stamina. Wairoa’s Watts, who is based in Tauranga, fronted up with an extra serving of all three attributes and won both days at the forestry-dominated venue near Nelson over the weekend.

He had made some adjustments to his 2023 Yamaha YZ250F during the week following the opening enduro round at North Canterbury last weekend, where he won his 0-200cc two-stroke/0-300cc four-stroke class and finished third overall.

The first day on Saturday was run in a sprint format, with day two on Sunday featuring a traditional timecard enduro race.

“Round two went well for me and I felt decent all weekend. However, the riding was technical and I was a little out of my comfort zone. I was super happy to be able to get the results I did considering how I was feeling about the conditions. My bike was awesome all weekend and I'm looking forward to the next two rounds in June,” he says.

Watts’ stellar results moved him up from third to second in the championship standings after the two rounds. He has two North Island-based rounds left in June to chase down leader Ethan McBreen. In terms of class honours, Watts leads the 0-200cc two-stroke/0-300cc four-stroke class ahead of Bailey Basalaj and Sam Parker.

With each the two South Island rounds also recognised as rounds one and two of the parallel-but-separate South Island Enduro Championships, Watts becomes the 2023 South Island champion in the expert under-200cc two-stroke/over-300cc four-stroke class.

The national enduro championship’s final two rounds will be held on consecutive weekends in Wellington (June 4 - 5) and Martinborough (June 10 - 11), and they will be recognised as rounds one and two of the parallel-but-separate North Island Enduro Championships.

PWR Yamaha Team Manager Paul Whibley was pleased to see Watts take top class and overall honours over the weekend.

“After the two rounds Tommy is in a good position to contend for the overall championship, as he is only 2 points shy of Ethan [McBreen]. With two rounds to go, there will be some close racing to finish out the season but I know Tommy is focused on getting the job done,” Whibley says.

Watts will get some extra seat time competing in the Un4seen Decals NZ Sprint Series’s final round on May 27 at Whibley’s home track Taikorea Motocross Park.

2023 NZ ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND TWO RESULTS:
1st Tommy Watts (YZ250FX) – 1st in class, AA - E1 0-200 2Str, 0-300 4Str

2nd Ethan McBreen

3rd Brad Groombridge

2023 NZ ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1st Ethan McBreen

2nd Tommy Watts (YZ250FX) – 1st in class, AA - E1 0-200 2Str, 0-300 4Str

3rd Brad Groombridge

2023 NEW ZEALAND ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDER:

• Round 1: May 6-7 - Omihi, North Canterbury
• Round 2: May 13-14 - Pigeon Valley Road, Tasman
• Round 3: June 4-5 - Moonshine Valley Road, near Porirua, Wellington
• Round 4: June 10-11 - Martinborough

PWR YAMAHA TEAM WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS:

Yamaha Motor New Zealand, Yamalube, GYTR, YMF, YMI, Motomuck, un4seen, MotoSR, Oneal, Arai, Blur, IMS, Zeta, Tire balls, Forma, Ogio, Metzeler, Renthal, Twin Air, USWE, EK Chain & Brownell Earthmoving.

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