The Levin nursery manager was once again too slick and clinical for his rivals, stretching his lead in the Experts class at the North Island Trials Championships as he dominated rounds five and six in the Manawatu at the weekend.
The 33-year-old now has a virtually unassailable 42-point lead over his nearest rival, Hastings man Luke March (on an Italian Beta 270), with four rounds in the series remaining.
The weekend‰Ûªs double-header meeting tested competitors to the limit.
Saturday‰Ûªs round five near Woodville featured rocky gullies, steep tree-strewn slopes and a slippery creek section, while Sunday‰Ûªs round six challenge was to conquer terrain littered with massive rocks, in a quarry near Linton.
Rounds seven and eight are set for Hamilton on June 23-24, with the series wrapping up with rounds nine and 10 in the Taranaki region on August 4-5.
It had been a battle between national champion Laugesen and rising star Jake Whitaker (Wellington) in the elite Expert class, honours shared between the mentor and his young prot̩g̩ at the opening four rounds, but injury then forced Whitaker to the sideline.
Instead it will be left to experienced Expert class campaigners March, Wayne Thompson (Taranaki, on a Spanish Sherco 290) and Shane Clarke (Wellington, Beta 270) to keep Laugesen (French Scorpa 250) on his toes.
Laugesen also had a new challenge to contend with, one he‰Ûªd imposed upon himself, using the event to debut his new four-stroke Yamaha-engined bike.
But Laugesen soon had the new bike‰Ûªs characteristics, and his human rivals, well sorted.
‰ÛÏYes, I won both days,‰Û
