Talent Highlighted at Patetonga
Round 2 NZ MX Nationals
Sunday’s Round 2 of the NZ National Champs highlighted once again the wealth of MX talent in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty. We have the big names that currently fly the flag; however, the four spots out of 10 for Tauranga including two on the podium in the 125cc class are the riders to watch for the future.
Spectators were amazed at the speed of these riders. The 125s were absolutely flying. It is to be hoped that all this talent will stick with it and carry on into the higher echelons.
Logan Blackburn (pictured above) was the fastest 125 qualifier, had a good day but came second at the event behind Rotorua’s Cameron Vaughn. “My back wheel spun off the concrete start pad in race 1 but I managed to get back to 2nd within the first lap,” says Logan. “The second start was better, but a crash lost me my lead to Cam. In the 3rd race I got a great start, extended my lead and kept it till the end in spite of a crash – I misjudged a large rut! I’m now sitting second overall for the series with two more rounds to go.” When Logan gets the right breaks, he’s away.
Junior rider Aaron Wiltshier was really on the gas with a smooth, flowing style but had bad starts - he struggles with the concrete pads. Nevertheless, he was excstatic with his 3rd place for the day behind Cameron and Logan. In race 1 he crashed in the mud of the first turn but emerged at Lap1 in 12th then worked his way forward improving one place each lap to come home 3rd. In race 2, the start itself was mediocre but then a rider went down blocking other riders, including Aaron, so once again he was in “fight your way back” mode. In race 3, he dropped his bike in Lap2 and went down to 8th but got back to a creditable 3rd. Aaron is now 3rd overall in the series and looking forward to Pukekohe and Taupo.
Ryan Metz rode really well with heaps of speed but a problem with crashing. He almost got 3 holeshots. In the first race he was leading, then crashed down to 14th place before working back to 9th. “I need to get fitter”, admits Ryan. “I’m up the front initially but I drop back as the race goes on.” Ryan came 5th equal on the day but 6th on countback. He missed Timaru but will be a force to be reckoned with at the final two rounds.
Kurt Langford, hasn’t been competing on the bike for ages, went down in the first turn in race one, but should be well satisfied with his 10th place in this round of the national series.
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Although Tauranga had no-one on the Patetonga podium in the 36
strong MX2 class, Rhys Carter is now third in the overall standings behind
Scott Columb (Queenstown) and Australian
Brock Winston . John Phillips (Rotorua) is 5th and top MX2 qualifier at Patetonga, Peter Broxholme, is 6th.
Rhys won his first race but was let down by a couple of crashes. In race 2 he finished 4th but a disastrous third race lap one pile up meant he had to fight back from 28th to 11th. That last race lowered him below the podium but was enough to take him up the rankings. “Rhys has the determination to succeed and, with a little more good luck, he’ll be able to move up even more over the next few races,” says Moto City Suzuki team manager Andrew Hardisty. We wish him that luck.
Scott Canham (Rotorua) was 16th and Campbell King (Papamoa/Christchurch) was 20thin the MX 2 class
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Cam McCaskie finished 30th
out of 36 and, even though it was a bit of a struggle against the big guys, he
enjoyed the day. Not too bad a result on
a borrowed bike with a too soft suspension.
Roydon White enjoyed his day also, stayed safe and finished in the top 15 in an illustrious field of pro and semi pro MX 1 riders so he was happy.
“It was cooler than Timaru – only 30 degrees so I didn’t have the dehydration issues I had in the South Island,” reports Roydon. “My lap times were pretty close but there were some little mistakes and a dropping back towards the end of the race due to fatigue. It’s difficult to fit in training and ride time when you’re working two jobs. The third race was my best. I just missed the holeshot, was 3rd to the corner, dropped back to 9th but then crashed finishing 14th overall for the day”
Cody Cooper (pictured practising at left) further extended his series lead by winning the MX 1 class ahead of overseas riders Todd
Waters and Billy McKenzie and Michael Phillips (Rotorua). He was “really blasting”. From 4th/5th positions, he worked
his way back to 1st , an incredible
effort against the Australian contendors.
The 2 minute plus clay-based Patetonga track is a big fast flowing track with no room for errors. It had been ripped and watered but changed as the 32 degree day went on to become very hard packed, rutty and dusty and quite technical at the end.
As Colin Smith in the BOP Times reports, Cody “headed the pack out of the first turn in the opening race but his other starts were not as sharp, and he had to make some passes.
"It was great to come here leading the championship and to extend my
lead," said Cooper.
"I'm actually happy that I didn't get good starts all day. I think I
proved a point that I can come through past good riders. I even surprised
myself passing two guys in one corner.
"It will be good preparation for Australia because you can't always get a
good start."
Cooper still wants to refine the front suspension settings on his Suzuki
RM-Z450. "The forks still aren't as good as I'd like for the last race
when the track ruts up.
"They're a bit too hard and it's a bit of a chain reaction that leads to
arm pump and I can't ride with a nice flow."
Ben Townley was not competing as he’s still recovering from his Timaru crash but should be at round three of the MX Nationals at the Harrisville track near Pukekohe on March 10.
Full results from Patetonga are on MyLaps. For race by race comments click here.
Overall in the Series after two rounds
MX1 (450cc): 1 Cody Cooper (Papamoa) Suzuki, 139pts; 2 Billy McKenzie
(Scotland) Yamaha, 119pts; 3 Todd Waters (Australia) KTM, 109pts; 4 Kirk
Gibbs (Australia) KTM, 102pts; 5= Justin McDonald (Christchurch) Honda
and Daryl Hurley (Hawera) Suzuki, 89pts.
MX2 (250cc): 1 Scott Columb (Queenstown) Yamaha, 133pts; 2 Brock
Winston (Australia) KTM, 117pts; 3 Rhys Carter (Papamoa) Suzuki, 102pts;
4 Ethan Martens (Auckland) Yamaha, 96pts; 5 John Phillips (Rotorua)
Honda, 89pts; 6 Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) Honda, 87pts.
125cc 2-stroke: 1 Cameron Vaughan (Rotorua) Yamaha, 136pts; 2 Logan
Blackburn (Te Puke) Yamaha, 131pts; 3 Aaron Wiltshier (Tauranga) KTM,
100pts; 4= Cameron Negus (Rotorua) Husqvarna and Cohen Chase (Taupo)
KTM, 89pts; 6 Nathan Sharland (Rotorua) KTM, 76pts.
