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Who is Chris Birch?
Chris Birch is 5 time New Zealand Enduro Champion. At 29 years old Chris has been competing in endurance motorbiking since the age of 17. Chris Birch lives and breathes motorcycles, he is in partnership with Red Bull and rides KTM bikes.
Chris began his motorcycling career when he started competing in motorbike trials in 1988. His first enduro was in the North Island Enduro championships, coming first in the 200cc class in 1998. He won several New Zealand National Trials titles in Clubmen, Intermediate and Expert classes at the age of 18.
Who supports him?
Chris is in partnership with Red Bull and is sponsored by KTM New Zealand, Darbi Accessories and Fox. He has been with Darbi Accessories for a number of years and has raced with KTM for four years, winning numerous national championships.. He began using Fox gear towards the end of 2009.
Darbi Accessories assist Chris with vitally important equipment such as Sidi boots, HJC helmet and ProGrip goggles. Now in partnership with Chris Birch, Red Bull helped Chris compete this year in the 2008 Red Bull Romaniacs and the Red Bull Last Man Standing.
Chris also has a lot of support from family and his amazing wife, Monica. This support is crucial in a sport such as this which dominates Chris’s life.
What has he done?
Chris recently returned home from South Africa where he competed in the Roof of Africa - winning the second year in a row by over two hours! Chris also grabbed his highest podium finishes in the 2009 Red Bull Romaniacs, coming second after two years of coming third. In 2009, Chris also took 8th place in Erzberg, a Red Bull extreme event in Austria. He also ran the Red Bull City Scramble in downtown Auckland, coming second.
In 2005 Chris travelled to the UK to gain greater international racing experience. He raced for the UK Husqvarna team. In the year he was overseas he competed in races in England, Wales, Spain, Italy, Poland and Germany.
In addition to this, he has competed in six Australian Four Day Enduro races, and three International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) races - one in Brazil where he earned a silver medal, in New Zealand, where he represented New Zealand in the Senior Trophy Team and earned a gold medal and Greece where he scored a second gold. He has won the New Zealand Enduro champs five times.
Chris discovered extreme enduro racing in 2007and has competed successfully at Red Bull Romaniacs, Red Bull Last Man Standing, Hells Gate and the Roof of Africa. Extreme racing has now become Chris's passion. |
