GNCC Series Concludes
Round 5 report
Maddix Park GNCC Final Sun 13th February
It had been a scorcher of a day on the Saturday and the Sunday brought sunshine as well but in between there was the rainfall that, added to Friday’s downpour, ensured that the track at Maddix Park would be a little challenging. Local riders could not claim any home advantage as the track was run in reverse to normal with, thanks to Mike Sheely, some new bits tucked in here and there.
First up was the 1.5 hour race for the Youth and Rookie Ladies. Chris Merriman rode his 65cc in the 7-9 years. He was leading until he hit some “roots and stuff and did a bit of skydive”. He finished the race in 3rd place. Jordan Milsom from Te Puke was 3rd also in the Youth 10-11 class giving him 2nd place for the series. Stephen & John Moloney were absent but with 3 placed rounds finished 8th and 11th for the series.
In the 12-13 years age group, Reuben Steens had hoped for better but was happy with his 4th on the day and 4th overall. Aiden Sheely’s 8th on the day lifted him to 6th overall.
Janelle Walker was delighted with her 2nd place overall in her first ever cross country series, especially since she has been riding for not much more than a year. The most successful local rookie lady was Shirley Sheely who was second on the day but first overall in the 45+ category.
The Rookies and Clubman riders followed with a 2 hour race. Matthew Reilly went into the weekend leading the championship but knew he had some work to do as his main rivals had already had their drop rounds. “I got an excellent start”, he reports, “passing a KTM on the second corner to lead into the bush. I had a great first lap where I passed a lot of riders. Parts of the track were quite wet and challenging so I lost time falling off in some slippery places”. He also had to cope with a loose clutch cable and a hanging vine that left a very visible “rope” burn. Matthew finished 3rd on the day and in the Rookies 14-21 Years championship. “I knew the race was hard” he adds, “but as I returned to the pits after crossing the finish line, another rider collapsed off his bike right in front of me. I managed to avoid running him over but checked on him and he was dehydrated but ok”.
In Matthew’s class, the points were very close with only 4 points separating the top 3 riders. Behind them was Leo van Lierop who just missed out on the podium with a 4th and a 4th and Thomas Williams (Te Puke), Matthew Atchison (Tauranga) and Jayden Boylon (Katikati) in 6th,7th and 8th respectively. David and Marcus Moloney had enough points from their 3 rounds completed to gain 5th and 6th place overall.
The Rookies 35-44 class saw Te Puke’s Steve Milsom become a success story when he took both the win on the day plus the series, with Tauranga rider, Paul Callinan, 2nd on the day. David Hearn’s 3rd placing gave him 2nd overall in the Rookies 45+ class. Rookies 21-34 round 5 winner and second place-getter overall, Tim Salter, was pretty tired after his race. He did it on a Gasgas trials practice bike so spent the whole race standing up.
Drisana Sheely won the Senior ladies race on the day but it wasn’t enough to get her on the podium for the series. She finished 4th. Jeggs Ryder, although absent for round 5, came 3rd overall in the Senior ladies 35+.
In the Clubman’s classes, Ross Hawke’s consistent riding made him the second local success story. He won the Round 5 45+ Clubman category and also gained 1st place for the series. A happy to finish – because many didn’t - Jake Whyte was 9th in the 14-20 Years and Craig Ryder was 1st in the 21-34 with Richard Hutchinson 5th and Derek Maisey 7th.
Peter Garrett had 2 very good GNCC rounds at the beginning of the series which enabled him to drop his 4th placing in Round 5 and win the series for the 35-44 group. Tauranga’s Neville Trow was 3rd (4th overall), Nathan Smith from Te Puke 7th (5th overall) and Derek Griffin and Brian Breingan 11th and 13th.
Shane Howard from Katikati gained second place in the Expert 21-29 class and, with only 3 of the 5 rounds raced, came 2nd overall. Grant Smith from Tauranga was 4th on the day. Andrew Schuit from Whakatane finished 2nd and gained second place overall in the Pro 35+ group. Dion Sheely was once again handicapped by health issues but finished 4th in the Expert 14-20 class.
The Elite class was won on the day by an amazingly fit and fresh Rory Mead followed by Karl Power, Reece Burgess (Tauranga) and Phil Singleton (Te Puke). Karl Power was awarded the trophy for the Grand Champion of the GNCC Series 2010-2011.
Tauranga cross country rider Reece Burgess wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived for his race. The Elite riders had of course inherited the track after two previous races.
“I saw bikes covered in mud and yet it was a really hot day” he says. “The track was a solid and slippery clay base with freshly turned soil on top. Due to the recent rain the topsoil turned to mush a bit but it was 10 times better than dust at this time of year. Once the race got off to a start we found the track was quite tight in spots with a few grooves to catch you out. Some of the more open spots were in immaculate condition with a perfect amount of moisture and others had a thick layer of slop on top. The slop was great fun using all of the 450 power to churn through and you could hit it at a fair pace but what would catch you out was the constant changing lines that would often cross and zig zag making it hard to power down. At the half way point of the race the sun strike on your goggles was getting quite bad in areas but I did not take them off as sun strike was better than a stick in the eye ball. Overall the track was soggy and therefore challenging with the clay base but it was a great track and for every sludgy section there was a thrilling fast section to make up for it".
The Elite class riders had all been finalists at the Te Puke Enduro Cross the day before and Reece and Phil had been involved in setting up that event as well. Reece admits to “feeling a bit beaten up” even before the GNCC started but when, in the last 800m of a lap, he “washed out the front end on a fast and easy corner snapping his front guard off”, his aching muscles from yesterday’s entertainment and a lack of water made him call it a day.
For the GNCC series Reece finished 3rd Grand Champion and was 1st in the Elite class ahead of Rory Mead (see picture above).
Full results are on www.silver-bullet.co.nz and there are a few photos on the Maddix gallery page.
