Nick Throup on his way to victory in the SA 24 Hour Trial.

Team Flinders Husaberg contender Nick Throup won the prestigious South Australian 24 Hour Trial at Kapunda earlier this month aboard a near-standard Husaberg FE450.

The 21-year-old South Australian won the race in his fifth attempt, going the distance in the ultimate battle for both man and machine. At the conclusion of the grueling 24th hour, Throup won by a slim margin of two and a half minutes.

It was a race to be remembered for Throup as he raced at the front in the reliability test, with minimal modifications made to his Husaberg apart from additional lighting power. Apart from that, his bike was raced as is off the showroom floor.

The South Australian 24 Hour Trial features a lengthy 220-kilometre course, in which riders complete a total of four laps over the event’s duration. To make conditions even more challenging, the opening six hours of the 2012 running were contested in relentless rain.

“It’s an amazing feeling because to finish the 24 Hour is one thing, but to finish and know that you’ve won is a whole other feeling,” Throup reflected. “After racing the event for the past five years, to finally get the win is a dream come true.

“The main thing that I find is that you just have to have an open mindset – especially at three in the morning. That’s why I think I’ve finished all five that I’ve entered so far. As soon as you start to doubt yourself, that’s when things go wrong. I always stay positive.

“The Husaberg FE450 was just bulletproof. To race for 24 hours – just under 1000 kilometres – I didn’t have to touch it. All as I did was unscrew the fuel cap, fill it with fuel and that was it!”