From November 1 to November 6, the team will spend more than seven hours a day competing against riders from all over the world at the annual International Six Day Enduro, a gruelling endurance motorcycling event near the city of Morelia in Mexico.
Rory Mead (23), Adrian Smith (24) and Adam Reeves (28), were selected for the team after filling the podium at the Yamaha Top Trail Rider Enduro Series in Tokoroa earlier this month (Mead was first, Reeves second, Smith third).
Karl Power (26), of Auckland, is reserve rider for the team.
"We are all pretty stoked to be representing the country in Mexico," Smith said.
"I feel confident we will finish at least in the top three."
The team is supported financially by Yamaha New Zealand and Wellard Group Holdings, Australia's largest livestock exporting company.
The Wellard group is run by former enduro rider and self-confessed petrol head Mauro Balzarini.
A part-time Queenstown resident, Balzarini, originally from Italy, has won several Italian national enduro championships and competed in five ISDE events across the world during his 25-year motorcycling career.
Two years ago, Balzarini came to Queenstown for a one-week holiday and ended up buying a house.
"When I get time, I always come to Queenstown. Quite frankly, I'm in love with the place," he said.
Until Balzarini decided to back the team, New Zealand had no other means of producing a team for the 2010 ISDE.
"When I found out New Zealand didn't have a team for this year, I decided to get involved.
"As off-road motorcycling has such a history in agriculture, it's a way for us to promote the company, and also help the motorcycle community," he said.
Duncan Smith, general manager of Queenstown Motorcycles, said he was "absolutely stoked" to host the team launch.
"I'm a road rider myself and having the three best enduro riders from New Zealand here is just incredible," Smith said.
The team plans to keep a live feed of their progress throughout the race, which will be available through the Wellard Group Holdings website by the end of next week.
Speaking of the difficulties the team is expecting, Mead said: "We will all do really well. The only real down side is waking up on the second day and realising you can't walk. After you get over that initial pain, you just keep riding."
