Club Catch Up
Whakatane R3 - Dash for Cash - Maize Paddock
Whakatane Club Round 3
The Whakatane Club finally had perfect weather and a great turnout for their club round on July 17th. It was a pleasure to ride. No mud, a bit soft in places but the track groomed in between races. Lots of top notch competition. Some riders, Ben Townley and Michael Phillips for example, were not riding for points. However most were.
It was a perfect day for Evan Hawkless (pictured at the maize ride), who came away with the “number one for the day” title for the first time ever in the Junior B 125 class. Evan had some good battles with Matthew Atchison, who, being on a 250, had more pull down the straights and also with Hayden Rumble who was struggling with the flu and a clutch that kept “buggering up”. After 3 rounds of the series, Matthew leads the series after 3 rounds followed by Evan and then Hayden. Kirk Cameron is running 9th and Taylor Trott 11th but both these riders have missed a round.
In the Junior A 125 class, Kurt Langford had 1/1/2 finishes riding his new YZ for a first on the day. Cam McCaskie made the podium in 3rd place. However, these two riders have also missed a round so are running 5th and 7th respectively in the series.
Lee Ormsby was on fire in the 85cc Junior A class. He was just beaten by Dylan Breingan for points on the day but he has been “riding fantastic” and leads the overall series. In the same class, Jovhann Phillips found no answer for Travis Brown this time round and finished 4th by 1 point on the day. Getting Travis will be the goal for next time but Jovhann is still 3rd overall.
Trent Haywood was “stoked to back on the track” after a 3 months lay off for health reasons. With so little recent bike time, Trent did brilliantly to finish 3rd for the day in the 85cc Junior B class.
Connor Lucas rode in the Junior Novice class. He upped the ante for each race with his 7/3/2 finishes left him just off the podium in 4th for the day and 6th overall because of a missed round.
In the 65cc MX Expert class, 4 of the top 5 spots in the series so far are held by local riders. Chris Merriman is usually pretty good on the concrete but in the 1st race he took off too quick and the wheel went up in the air. In the next two, he got the hole shot which helped to garner 1st place for the day and retain the overall lead. Trent Duggan is 4th, Xavier Anderson is 4th and Harrison Moore is 5th in the overall points.
The youngest Waterhouse sister was on the mini track. Little sister Georgia has been bitten by the MX bug too and is in 7th place in the 50cc Trail class.
Jessie and Casey Waterhouse battled each other and Julie Managh for the honours in the Women’s class. Jessie came out on top for the day with 1/1/2 finishes, Casey (3/2/1) was second but 3rd placed Julie (2/3/3), is still the current series leader. Jeggs Ryder was 5th and also 5th in the Senior B Lites.
Ashley Bond and Mitchell Bond were among the non-pointed riders. Ashley reports that "It was a beautiful day for riding, and as usual the track was in perfect condition! There were a lot of riders there, definitely the most i have seen at a club day in a while. The womans class is always a big class at this track and this was the same today. Nikita Knight just recently back on the bike did 3rds and I did 4ths and 5ths. My little brother Mitchell got 2nds in the novice 85 class".
Other senior results include: Senior Novice- Joel Dorrington 3rd; Senior B Open – Craig Ryder 2nd, Ian Conway 3rd; Vets 35+ - Ian Conway 2nd, Julie Managh 3rd; Open Senior- Craig Ryder 5th.
Full results are on the Whakatane Club website.
Dash for Cash 2011
The Dash for Cash organized by the Whangarei Motorcycle Club is becoming a regular event. It is run in conjunction with the International Car Rally of the North so the runs have to fit in with the arrival of the rally. It is held at Pohe Island which is not really an island but an old rubbish dump. The weather was great on the day but the “track” was very, very muddy and very challenging because of a bog hole and swampy bits. Close to 1500 people watched Jesse Wiki prove that his win last year was not a fluke. He beat Shaun Fogarty to take home the $3,000 cash prize. Local riders, Broxy and Cody Cooper, had headed up north but weren’t successful; Cody because he only did the practice sessions.
Tauranga Club Maize Paddock Fun Day
Around 200 riders took advantage of a free weekend and a relatively dry day to kick dirt at the club’s first maize paddock ride for the season which was held at their longstanding venue in Welcome Bay. Maize paddocks are fantastic for pressure free, fun riding and out there doing it were all ages from minis to vets and all types and sizes of bikes from the vintage to the modern. The riders had a blast and a laugh and the couple of showers that fell made the tracks just that much more interesting and challenging.
The only grumble ? The talk between dads about growth spurts and maybe having to change up to bigger bikes.
Check out a few photos here.
