Fox Motorex Gas Gas mounted Kevin Zarczynski finished a battling seventh place overall in this years Australian Trials championships held at Tamborine Mountain near the Gold Coast.
Thunderbird Park was the venue for the two-day championship, with the course set in the flowing rocky river that runs through the property. The solo riders would face two laps of 15 sections each day, the first day having 12 sections in the river, and the second day 11 watery hazards.
Day One was extremely difficult, Kevin battled to find grip in the very unfamiliar sections, and despite some flashes of brilliance when the wheels found the perfect line, was only able to join the rest of the field in pushing for three’s on many sections.
With only three dirt bank sections at the end of the lap, the rest of the sections were all very much the same with rocks in water, and it was very difficult for riders to pull an advantage over their competitors.
Kevin finished the day equal sixth with 66 points from the two laps. “I made too many mistakes today in some of the easier places, but I was pleased to be able to push through each of the sections at least once” was his summary of the first day. “Clearly the sections are way too hard, for almost every grade, not just solo, and we are not putting on a good show for the public. So hopefully things will improve tomorrow”.
Day Two was a much easier course, with organisers re-using five of the easiest sections from the first day, and an extra two non-water sections leaving just 11 sections in the river.
Kevin had a few nasty whacks when things didn’t grip as expected in the river, but never gave up, one section at a time. Unable to make a challenge on the lead riders, after 12 hours over two days finished in seventh place outright, and sixth Australian.
“I was ten points off the pace each day from where I needed to be to make the rostrum, I made too many silly mistakes, but it was a very particular type of course with almost every section in the water, and I was just not as good as other riders who get to practice in these sort of conditions. Maybe I should have ridden the Scottish Six Days to get some wet rock practice!”
“I have to thank my dad Richard for doing his best to mind for me, but it was so hard on the minders that this will be his last event as a minder. He will be free to ride the trials himself and enjoy them, and I’ll have a new minder and a new practice regime for the future.”
Kevin’s next event is the Australian 4X4 Masters series display at Eastern Creek this Sunday, before flying out for the final round of the World Trials Championships in Czech Republic on September 5th, and the Trial des Nations in Poland on September 12th.
Thanks to the support of Fox racing, Dunlop tyres, Motorex lubricants, Renthal, Gaerne, and Gas Gas Australia.