An all-consuming passion for enduro motorcycle racing shows clearly on Wayne Finlayson’s face as he describes to me his involvement in the sport for the past 36 years. I’m impressed by the youthfulness of this 62-year-old.
He tells me that even when he was a young boy he would always jump straight onto a motorbike as soon as he got home from school. He’s still got that enthusiasm. He joined the Martinborough Motorcycle Club when he was seventeen and was soon setting tracks for motorcross racing around farms in the area. In 1990 he shifted his interest to enduro racing and has been the leading light in the sport for this district ever since then.
Wayne’s family have been farming in Ruakokopatuna for almost 100 years. In 1999, he and his wife Leigh bought their own farm there and have become leaders in the community, especially through their involvement in enduro racing. Recently Wayne and his team set the track and ran the finals of the New Zealand National Enduro Competition. This was based at the Ruakokopatuna Hall and through the entry fees, raised money for work needed on the hall. It was very much a community event bringing all sorts of people from the district together, not just enduro enthusiasts.
In July, for his second time, Wayne will be competing in the Hard Enduro World Championship held in Romania. There will be riders from thirty-six countries competing and a team of eighteen from New Zealand. Hard Enduro is a specialised, extreme form of enduro racing. It takes place on extremely challenging terrain, which includes near-vertical climbs, boulder fields, log crossings, and other daunting obstacles. This year there are 800 entrants and Wayne hopes to better his 2023 placing of 61st.
The energy of this man is impressive and I’m sure that this will not be the last time he competes in the World Championships.
(SEE: WIND, MUD, RAIN, HAIL AND COLD
– ENDURO HEAVEN – P20)
