The Aussies may be trying to claim him, but Tauranga-born David Wainwright insists he's still a fiercely proud Kiwi after winning the world's first long-distance paramotor race.

David has caused a media storm in Australia after the Bay of Plenty man became the first person to win the first Icarus Trophy Adventure race in America.

Tauranga man David Wainwright claimed the Icarus Trophy in the US. Photos: David Wainwright.

Media over the ditch have been claiming him as a true Australian, but David says he is a Kiwi lad through and through.

'I still support the All Blacks and I was born and raised in Tauranga,” he says. 'I only moved from Tauranga about seven years ago.”

Raced between Seattle and Valley Springs near Sacramento, David was one of more than 20 competitors who took part in the adventure race last month.

David, who now lives with his Australian wife and two children in Port Macquarie where he runs a paragliding adventure business, had to race 1200km unassisted, with a 10m paragliding wing above him, a two-stroke motor on his back and 65km of extra weight.

The 32-year-old was so dominant in the race that he managed to finish it before the organisers could set up the finish line.

Allowing for overnight stays and regular fuel stops, race organisers estimated the race would take competitors two-and-a-half weeks, but the experienced paragliding instructor finished it in just two-and-a-half days.

'Yeah they weren't expecting me to finish that quickly,” says David.

'I was doing speeds of up to 100kph so it was pretty quick. The organisers had shipped all the finish line equipment by courier down [to Valley Springs] but I beat the courier down there.”

David puts his success down to favourable weather and good planning.

'It was just very good weather, good decision making and being able to stay in the air for as long as I did.”

In total, he managed to stay in the air for 400km the first day, 485km on the second day and more than 250km on the third day.

'It was up to nine-and-a-half hours a day of flying for the first couple of days, which is pretty hard to do for most people.”

David, who was taught to paraglide by his uncle in Tauranga, told SunLive the idea to take part in the event had been a last minute one.

'I really wanted to get into it but it wasn't until four months out from the race that I secured a place,” he explains.

'It booked out pretty quickly at the start when they announced it.

'I had a student that was training for the event and she managed to put in a good word for me and I managed to get a place. So it was all very last minute.”

Instead of waiting around for the other competitors to arrive, David took to the air once more and joined his student to give her moral support for the rest of her journey.

David's flight has even gone viral on social media, with Ellsworth Lang from Chiloquin, Oregon posting a video of the adventurer taking off during his flight.

The Tauranga man says he is keen to return next year and defend his title.