Paul Whibley from Pahiatua has been included in the six-man New Zealand team to contest what is being labelled the "Olympic Games of motorcycling" starting at Taupo on November 14. The Kiwi contingent for the International Six Days Enduro has a distinctly motocross flavour, headed as it is by Taranaki-born brothersDarryll and Shayne King.. They will be joined by fellow motocross international Scott Columb of Queenstown and by enduro guns, Whibley, Kevin Archer of te Awamutu and Chris Birch of Waimauku. Whibley will return from the United States, where he currently lies fifth in the national enduro series there, especially for the event. The sport of enduro racing can be compared to rally car racing with riders setting off in groups of three, one minute apart, over marked courses that include anything nasty that nature can throw up?logs., trees, roots, rocks, mud, creek beds, gorse-strewn hills and ravines, rolling grass farmland, sandhills and swamp. And making it tougher for the riders is they have no chance to preview the hazards before they come across them. Also they are out on their own, with no outside assistance allowed. Flat tyre, broken engine, bent handlebars, run of fuel, gashed arm?riders must deal with these emergencies themselves and reach the next check point, or they are history.
