Full On Action in Taupo

Battle of the Clubs - Taupo MX - Desert Storm

Taupo was the hub of bike action and the place to be this weekend. For MXers, there was the much awaited Battle of the Clubs on the Saturday followed by the Taupo Club round on the Sunday. For cross country enthusiasts, there was the 2 Day Desert Storm Event.

The Battle of the Clubs

With 25 teams competing and the quick fire format of the MX of Nations, a brilliant day was promised and a brilliant day it was. The track was the track used for the international racing in2006 & up to the Taupo Club’s usual “awesome” standards.

Competition was fierce. The practice was followed by the qualifying rounds that decided the choice of gates for each team for the day – yes, you had to earn your pick - and then the real battles began. With 2 riders in each mixed class race, clubs had to make tactical decisions as to which rider would have the best gate. Races could be won or lost at the start.

The Tauranga Club team of Cody Cooper, Rhys Carter, Dion Steiner, Cam McCaskie, Jovhann Phillips and Tyler Steiner found pitting together generates great team spirit and they were stoked with their second place overall.

Cody was a standout, winning both his 2 races and with Rhys’s on fire two top five finishes and the support of Dion , the Vet rider, the trio claimed glory for the Best Senior team.

“I had a bit of a problem when my muffler fell off and I had things winding around the bike disc”, reports Dion, “but I managed to finish and then Rhys lent me his bike for the last race”. Cody, just back from Australia, really enjoyed the day.”It gave me some riding training” he says, “but it was laid back and fun”.

The junior team members also gave it their all. Everyone stayed on their bikes and seemed to pull that little bit extra out of the bag when it mattered most. Tyler, Jovhann and Cam were all three pretty happy with their results which is a modest way of saying they did “bloody well”.

Other local riders competing included Tauranga’s Aaron Wiltshier who was the Junior 125 rider for the winning Taupo team, Cameron Forlong who rode for the South Waikato club and Katikati's Garth Amrein who was riding for the Patetonga Club. Something broke in Cameron's gearbox at the vital qualifying stage so he was delegated to 50th gate pick - a difficult place to start from.

The $9,000 raised will go towards funding the as yet unannounced NZ Team for this year’s Motocross des Nations in Belgium.

For full results on MyLaps Click here

Taupo Club Round

The weather was good until halfway through the last races so quite a number of the riders from the Battle of the Clubs stayed on for the Sunday Taupo Club round the next day. Others were too exhausted.

Tyler Steiner was one who stayed and was pretty happy with his three 3^rd places in the 85cc 11 -12 years races behind winner, Maximus Purvis.

Chris Merriman had 3/13/9 results in the same class. He fell off in race 2 but worked his way back to 13^th. However in race 3, he crashed twice. Not in the sawdust though, he’s coping much better with the sawdust now. He’s still learning to take it a bit easy as the day progresses and the tracks get cut up.

Jack McClymont, Brad Cameron and Trent Cameron were also competing in what is one of the biggest race classes. They finished 12^th, 17^th and ^,22^nd respectively.

In the 8-10 years 85cc Trent Duggan (2/2/3) was third and Josh McClymont (5/3/2) was 3^rd The13-16 years 85cc races saw Simon Atkinson (9/6/4) finish 5^th.

Disappointing news from Cameron Forlong who injured his ankle while running second behind Josaiah Natzke in race 1.

Matt Kenyon, pictured above, is full on blasting at the moment. Fresh from his two wins at Whakatane last week, he topped the podium in the Junior 14-16 250cc class with a win and two seconds. Matt is currently riding his 125cc in this class in anticipation of a bike change later in the year. He like mud and won the last race when the rain started. Cam McCaskie came 2^nd in the first race but, being a little exhausted by his efforts at the Battle of the Clubs the day before; he opted out of the remaining races.

Aaron Wiltshier also was bit “stuffed” from the previous day. He crashed in the sawdust and put his shoulder out but he’s got the technique now sussed on how to roll the shoulder and pop it back into place. Aaron finished 2^nd (2/4/2) behind his Taupo team mate Hadleigh Knight in the Junior 15-16 125cc. Cole Atkinson’s 11/9/10 results kept him in the top 10 in 9^th position.

In the younger 125cc 12-14 Years age category, Jayden Turnwald (2/3/1) successfully rode himself into first place while Jovhann Phillips (5/4/5), pictured at left, finished 5^th.

Jovhann had fantastic starts and nearly holeshot the last race. His mental state was spot on, the bike was tweaked to perfection but after Saturday's hard riding for the Tauranga Club, he thinks his body "just needs a rest".

Local riders were also making their mark on the mini track.

In his first ever event at the Taupo track - and on his new bike -Tyler Wiremu was third in the 4-8 Years 50cc Intro KTM and absolutely loved it.

There were three riders in the top 10 in the 6-8 Years MX 50cc Div 2. Sam Meredith had a 3^rd and a 5^th but, handicapped by a DNS in race 2 due to a sudden illness, finished 6^th. His brother Wade (9/10/9) was 7^th and Luke Fraser-Brown (12/8 /10) was 10th.

The 65cc classes are also very popular. The 7-8 years class was won by Madoc Dixon (1/3/1) with Sean Callinan (6/2/1) in second place. Sean is in great form at present. He was winning race one by a country mile and about to overtake when the lapper pulled across in front of him so finished 6th.

The 9-11 Years 65cc A Grade had Jacob Hunt in 11^th place and Jontae Carroll in 16^th. Alex Fraser-Brown finished 5^th in the 9-11 Years 65cc B Grade. He was riding really well and coming first in one race when he unfortunately fell off in the last lap. Such is racing!

Ashlin Steiner (5/5/4) rode the 7-11 Trail class and finished 4^th.

Full results are on My Laps.

Desert Storm

So far, we’ve heard is that it was “wicked”. There was a good frost so chilly on the Saturday morning but the trails were fantastic and the ride awesome, especially the free flowing stuff and perfectly bermed sections up on the side of the mountain. Through the trees was a little slippery but a lot less slippery than last year. The weather only packed up late on the Sunday, when most riders had packed and left anyway.