Even though he was struggling with an underperforming motorcycle, Tim McArthur (20) managed to hold on to victory in the national road race 125cc GP championship at the weekend.
The Dunedin rider was leading going into the last round at Pukekohe and was virtually assured of the title after his closest rival, Orewa's Avalon Biddle, crashed out of the first race on Saturday.
McArthur went on to record three fourth places through combination of bad luck and "annoying" bike trouble. In the final Tourist Trophy race, which is a separate title, his race plan had been to fly past his fellow competitors on the last laps.
He had worked his way up to second when the race was red flagged after Christchurch's Cam Jones had an accident and could not get off the track. As two-thirds of the laps had been run it was deemed a race, called off and the final finishing positions were taken from the last full lap - bumping McArthur back to his earlier position of fourth.
He credited his first-class win to his mechanic and team manager Kevin Goddard, a fellow Otago Motorcycle Club member.
"I always say it's about 50% me and 50% him," McArthur said.
