This year's Motatapu will see two of the most compelling rematches from this summers endurance racing event calendar, when New Zealand's top two XTERRA Triathletes square off in the XTERRA Motatapu UDC Finance Triathlon on the same day as our top two Mountain Bikers race head to head in the Speight's Summit 47km Motatapu Mountain Bike.
Motatapu Event Manager, Gemma Boyle, says the rematch between 2013 Coast to Coast winner Braden Currie and second place getter Richard Ussher will be exciting for competitors and spectators alike.
"While Currie and Ussher will be swapping kayaks for a 2km swim leg, both athletes have represented New Zealand at the top elite level in the off-road swim/bike/run format," Gemma Boyle says.
"At last years XTERRA World Champs Braden Currie finished 17th and Richard Ussher 23rd, so we are expecting close racing between these two great endurance athletes."
Gemma Boyle says that in the Speight's Summit 47km Motatapu Mountain Bike event, World Junior Champion Anton Cooper will race against the man he pipped by just one second at the NZ National Mountain Bike Championships, Dirk Peters.
Anton Cooper is the course record holder at Motatapu, but his rematch against Dirk Peters is sure to go down to the wire, Gemma Boyle says.
"Motatapu is in its ninth year and we have a record field with 3724 competitors across the five events, but having two such exciting rematches in one event at the end of the summer is thrilling stuff," She says.
Gemma Boyle says while the elite men rematches are certainly the highlight, the women's mountain bike will also be intriguing with course record holder Kate Fluker going against the Amber Johnston, NZ's number one female under 19 rider, as well as World Champion Adventure Racer Elina Ussher.
