Carsten Jorgensen and Marquita Gelderman still lead the Superseries after Round 2 in Otago, but Chris Forne and Rachel Smith are posting a challenge. Forne notched up another win against the formidable Dane, and in her first appearance this series Smith took both days.
Saturday's South Island Champs used a new forest map on the coastal hills overlooking Dunedin airport; similar to the nationals map at Akatore of several years ago, but with more small knolls and trapped depresssions at the base of earth flows on the unstable hillsides. Under the pine forest were patches of slower manuka and dead gorse which posed some visibility challenges, but there was some excellent "white forest".
Kerrison continued his consistent form to place second behind Jorgensen, with Mark Lawson completing the dais. Michael Adams, Alistair Cory-Wright and Karl Dravitzki made their first appearance this series in 4th, 5th and 6th. Forne was absent doing groomsman duty for a friend.
Also debuting in this series was titleholder Rachel Smith, but the evergreen Marquita Gelderman held her to a one-minute lead, with Jenni Adams third. Others to put their first points on the board were Swiss Seline Stadler who is living in Christchurch, and Lara Prince, in 4th and 5th.
Sunday's race was a South Island Challenge event, the first use of a 7.5sq.km extension to the rock-studded Mount Ross map near Middlemarch. With no trees and not much climb the times were close, but Jorgensen had some uncharacteristic trouble to finish 8th in a race won by Forne. Dravtitzki and Cory-Wright filled out the placings, followed by Kerrison, Lawson and Flynn. Seline Stadler was second behind the reliable Smith, then came Gelderman, Adams and Prince..
Surprises of the weekend: Michael Smithson from PAPO, a quiet D Squad members who hasn't come up in lights before, claiming 9 points for the weekend; and the Swiss Stadler, who in spite of missing the first round is already in fifth place.
The expected brief reign of Central Raiders didn't eventuate, with Storm taking the lead on Saturday and extending it on Sunday with Forne's arrival. The lower North Island team is however scoring far above its form from the last series where it never looked like being competitive. However Smith has announced her intention to transfer back to PAPO from the new year. This will return the contest to one between the Storm and the Northern Knights, with the latter having some big guns not so far brought into battle.
Round three will contain three events from the Southern 6-day in January; including the intensely detailed mining terrain of Naseby and the Nordic-like terrain of Waikaia's beech forest.