Taranaki's Keegan brothers have been at it again

STRATFORD BROTHERS TAKE IT IN TURNS

JUNE 7, 2017: Taranaki's Keegan brothers have been at it again.

Lepperton bricklayer Scott Keegan won the national title when the New Zealand ATV (all terrain vehicle) Motocross Championships were staged in Taranaki in 2015, but it was his elder brother, 27-year-old Stratford electrician Camo Keegan, who did the winning at the 2016 edition of the nationals, held near Amberley last October.

The two sibling rivals have probably been trading blows since birth and that's certainly been the case whenever they're on the ATV race track together, and over the Queen's Birthday Weekend they were at it again, this time banging handlebars at the annual South Island ATV Championships near Timaru.

The fastest two riders on the track, it was probably inevitable that one of them would dominate the premier class and that's how it panned out, Camo Keegan eventually winning the two-day, five-race event by just six points from his 26-year-old brother.

Third overall was Christchurch rider Callum Macrae, just two points further back, with Christchurch's Craig Cox and Amberley's Ian Ffitch rounding out the top five.

Scott Keegan won this South Island event for the first time last season and Camo described his win this year as "sweet revenge".

"It was extremely muddy and the racing here was hard," Camo said of the Backflips Dirt Farm track at Pleasant Point, on the outskirts of Timaru.

"It was the first time we'd tried out the new ATV track at Backflips and it was a lot of fun.

"It's always good racing against my brother like this. We're so close in ability and we trust each other completely. We also know a lot about one another's style, strengths and weaknesses. It makes for good racing between us."

Although another of the fastest riders on the track at Timaru, multi-time national champion Ffitch had a weekend to forget and so it was a credit to him that he still managed to finish the championships fifth overall.

"I caught a rock in my quad's drive chain in race one and my weekend never really improved from there," he lamented.

"I actually packed up after Saturday's racing and didn't unpack again on Sunday. I really only ride for fun these days anyway."

Other class winners at the 2017 South Island ATV Championships were Sam George (Pegasus, 450cc production class); Jack White (Nelson, 250cc production class); Bailey Graham (Christchurch, 125cc production class); Greg Graham (Christchurch, veteran's class); Abbey Holliday (Christchurch, women's class); Caitlyn Parish (Amberley, quad kids' class); Rowan Clark (Christchurch, clubmans).

ends

© Scoop Media