If the old saying 'there's no rest for the wicked' is true, then New Zealand's off-road endurance motorcycle racers must be very bad people indeed.

Round two of the 2017 New Zealand Enduro Championships is set to take place in the Taungatara Forest, off State Highway 25, between Whangamata and Hikuai today.

Racing was close in the opening round of the championships staged at St Arnaud, south of Nelson, last weekend, and it should be a similar story again this weekend with the same front-runners likely to feature.

Christchurch's Angus Macdonald performed brilliantly on the gruelling terrain near Nelson, but he had some heavy-hitters for company on the podium, with Taupo's defending national champion Brad Groombridge finishing runner-up and Helensville's Tom Buxton in third spot overall.

Titirangi's Callan May finished fourth, Rotorua's Bradley Lauder was fifth and Mokau's former national enduro champion and multi-time former national cross-country champion Adrian Smith rounded out the top six.

Angus Macdonald's brother, Hamish Macdonald, also one of the country's elite enduro exponents, had a nightmare at Nelson, finishing only 17th overall after he mistakenly missed a check-point, so he will be out to rectify matters on Saturday.

There is still a long way to go in this six-round championship series and riders know they really need to pocket good points in these early stages of the competition.

All events count for overall honours, but riders will count only five of the six rounds in terms of the individual bike classes. As riders discard their one worst score, it should keep the title hunt close until the final round.

Round three is set for the Moonshine Valley, north of Wellington, on March 18, followed by round four near Christchurch on May 6 and then Waitawhiti Station, east of Eketahuna, on June 3.

The championships will then wrap up near Tokoroa just two days later on June 5.