Posted: November 17, 2005

Adventure Racing: 2005 World Championship Enters Fourth Day

Teams are jostling for position behind Kiwis Balance Vector who have increased their lead overnight in the Adventure Racing World Championship on the West Coast of the Southern Alps and are now into the eighth stage of the race which is another mountain trek in the Brunner Range.

This stage has been amended and ARW Series director Geoff Hunt says it will shorten the course by several hours.

Balance Vector found the 89km mountainbiking section long and hard. It took 19.5 hours to complete and they opted for a one and a half hour break at the transition area leaving there for the trek at 6.42am.

Nine teams have now been through checkpoint 17 en route to the trek transition area at Capleston which is estimated to take about eight hours.

The Swedish teams Cross Sportswear and Halti Sports had moved up the field arriving at checkpoint 17 together in second place at 0555 this morning. They set off two hours after Powered by Velvet.org.com which was second team on to the mountain biking section but has yet to arrive at 17, and has now slipped out of the top ten.

The US.Kiwi. South African mixed team Merrell Wigwam is in third place arriving at 6.33am while Lundhags of Sweden are fourth timing in at 6.56am. In fifth place is the New Zealand team Port Nelson clocking in at 7.18am ahead of defending world champions Nike Balance Bar at 7.30am.

Port Nelson is ecstatic about its ranking at this stage.

"We are very excited," says Lisa Savage. "It feels like we are part of a real race rather than just making up numbers as we usually do in a Southern Traverse. We're just moving along steadily and we are loving the whole thing."

Twenty four teams are still racing on the course after several dropped out last night. Team Supplierpipeline were forced to withdraw when team member Dave Corner suffered a knee injury and was picked up by a helicopter ferrying crew from the Brunner Range.

The West Coast Development Trust is the principal sponsor for the World Championship and $100,000 prize money is up for grabs for the first five teams to cross the finish line in Tauranga Bay near Westport.

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.