Speed, dust and lost knobs
GNCC Round 4 Maramarua
Dust with a capital D affected all the riders, from the more experienced (Paul Whibley) to the younger (11 year old Stephen Moloney, for example), at Round 4 of the GNCC held last weekend on the hard packed clay and gravel mix at Maramarua.
The Elite class and overall winner, Paul Whibley, missed a few turns because of the D factor but “some risky moves made in the dust” paid off and he was able to take the lead from second finisher, Karl Power, in the fourth lap.
Tauranga’s 3rd placed Reece Burgess was pleased when his “Husaburg fired straight up and put him 2nd into the first corner, which was critical in the dust” but he was wary of ending in hospital rather than on the podium. “With Adrian Smith and Rory Meads hungry for points behind me, I still rode slow to see the track with less dust, and, as a result, Paul Whibley wanted past, so I let him through,” he says. “It was hot too,” he continues.”Due to the heat, every pit I swapped goggles to keep the massive sweat build-up in the foam out of my eyes. And check out my new rear tyre (pictured above)! There’s not a knob remaining in the middle.”
Gavin Weston of Papamoa mentions the track. “It was a fast track through the forest with some long straights. You could reach 120km/hr in places. The straights were good, it meant your arms and wrists got a rest”. Gavin rode in the Clubman’s 45+ group gaining 2nd place behind Lewis Speedy. “It was definitely dusty”, he states, “but the smaller fields and a good start helped”. “It was quite surprising though’, he adds, “there were 2 of us old codgers in the top 5 of the clubmans, all ages included! We gave the others a bit of a hurry up.” Ross Hawke from Katikati, riding in the same class, ran into a tree but gained 4th place on the day and has retained his first place overall in the series.
Peter Garrett and Neville Trow, both from Tauranga, were 2nd and 5th in the 35-44 year Clubmans group with Nathan Smith from Te Puke sandwiched in between in 4th place. Peter and Neville are now in 1st and 2nd place overall in this class.
There were also a number of local riders in the Clubman Rookie classes. In the 14-20 age group, Te Puke brothers David and Marcus Moloney were 3rd and 5th, followed by Tauranga riders Jordan Manning 6th, Leo van Lierop 7th and Matthew Reilly 10th. Matthew did not have a good day. He fell off on the first lap, went down a bank and is now nursing a suspected broken wrist. He is, however, still leading his class overall.
On the other hand, David Moloney had “a mean day”. “I got a mean start too, 1st out the gate, but ended up 3rd after taking a few turns too fast. There was a place where it went off to the right with a drop at the end, and I could not see because of all the dust. I came in way too fast and saw the guy in front of me with his brakes on. I put mine on as fast as I could but it was too late. The bike got jammed up the top on a log and I went over the drop”. He was stoked to beat his dad and brother.
Tim Salter (Tauranga) was 2nd in the Rookies 21-34 group and Steve Milsom (Te Puke), was 3rd in the 35-44 group. Steve was going fine until he “hit a stump and then a tree, and popped a tyre and had to limp home”. “It was so dusty”, he adds, “if you got on someone’s tail, you hung on to them and hoped you didn’t hit anything”.
The Clubman Rookies 45+ age group saw David Hearn (Tauranga) come in 2nd, with Les Howard (Katikati) in 3rd and Mike Moloney (Te Puke) in 5th place.
In the Youth 10-11 years, Te Puke riders Jordan Milsom and Stephen Moloney were 3rd and 8th respectively. Stephen reckons “it was hard work. Lots of up hills with slow people in front and the ages and ages of gravel was a bit boring”.
In the 12-13 age group, Reuben Steens was consistent once again and came home in 3rd place with fellow Tauranga rider, Aden Sheely in 6th. Reuben had a good ride and echoes the comments of other riders.”Lots of gravel road, I wrecked my new back tyre, I just followed the wheel of the person in front, that’s all I could see because of the dust.”
The Rookie Ladies fared well with Shirley Sheely gaining 1st place in the 45+ and Janelle Walker 3rd place in the 21-34 age group. Drisana Sheely was 4th in the Senior Ladies.
Full results can be viewed on www.silver-bullet.com .
The 5th and final round of the GNCC will be held at Maddix Park on Sunday 13th February 2011. Please note the event is on the SUNDAY. The day before, on the Saturday 12th February, the Te Puke Motorcycle Club is holding its 2nd Annual Endurocross event at the Te Puke A & P Show.
