Posted: November 16, 2005

Adventure Racing: Kiwis Stay In Front Overnight In 2004 World Championship

Kiwi teams continue to fly the flag at the front of the field in the challenging Adventure Racing World Championship on the West Coast of the Southern Alps and Balance Vector has now increased its lead to around seven hours over its nearest challengers.

Most teams are now in the rugged Brunner Range where conditions have been wet and windy overnight and progress has been slower than expected on the ridge tops.

Balance Vector has already been in the area for around 20 hours but is expected to emerge at the next transition area laster this morning after passing through checkpoint 13 at 7.31am.

The Kiwi/US/South Africa team Merrell Wigwam arrived at checkpoint 12 at 02.12am having passed Powered by Velvet.org.nz who clocked in at 03.30am. Kiwi team Port Nelson had jumped several places since the start of the section to pass through the same checkpoint at 7.00am. No other teams have arrived at checkpoint 12 and Balance Vector is the only one to pass 13 at this stage.

Twenty-eight teams made it to the Buller River last night by curfew at 7.30pm but some were cutting it fine. The Japanese team East Wind arrived at the raft launch area with just 30 seconds to spare. Teams who missed the raft section are able to continue and move directly on to the 30km Brunner Range trek.

ARWorld Series director Geoff Hunt says however they will not be able to improve their ranking even if they pass other teams during the remainder of the race.

Sixteen teams of the 46 who started the event on Monday have now officially withdrawn. A surprise withdrawal last night came from the highly favoured West Coast team Kathmandu but with both Duncan and Hamish Hamilton suffering the effects of flu they decided to pull the pin. They walked back out to the start of the Lyell range trek to join their support crew about 9.30pm.

The US team ATP is still in the back section of the Lyell Range trek but Hunt says while they are obviously moving slowly there are no concerns.

Hunt says he is surprised to see four Kiwi teams taking the lead at this stage.

"But of course it's still early days in the race and too soon to predict any outcome."

The West Coast Development Trust is the principal sponsor for the World Championship.

For up to date race coverage www.arworldchampionship.com or for alternative coverage www.sleepmonsters.com.

Southern Traverse Ltd is a premier international sports event management company operating elite events around the world, including the Adventure Racing World Championship, the AR World Series and the Southern Traverse.

The Adventure Racing World Series is an international circuit of premiere adventure races representing 10 countries creating a 12-month calendar of professional events around the world. The series events are: Beast of the East-USA, Raid the North Extreme- Canada, Ecomotion/Pro - Brazil, Explore Sweden - Sweden, The Bull of Africa - S.Africa, Terra Incognita - Croatia, Bergson Winter Challenge - Poland, Wilderness ARC - Scotland and Southern Traverse -New Zealand. Adventure Racing World Series events are qualifiers for the Adventure Racing World Championship

Website: www.southerntraverse.com.