50cc Clean Sweep
Taupo Round 3
The future seems to be assured as far as Tauranga motocross champions are concerned if the results of round 3 of the Taupo Series are a guideline. The 50cc classes were all won by Tauranga riders with Tyler Wiremu, Kristian Crane and Sam Meredith all topping their respective podiums.
Tyler Wiremu, all smiles on the left, had a great day, sweeping away the competition in the 4-7 Years Intro KTM with 3 wins. He had good starts, managed to get in front quickly and stayed. Some of the other fast riders crashed so he didn’t have to work too hard to win. Pre-race discussions about not getting tangled up with the other riders, taking wider lines at higher speed and using the entire track also helped. He was buzzing all day and didn’t go to sleep until late!
Kristian Crane got his second feel of the Taupo track and progressively sealed his top spot for the day in the 50cc Intro Japanese class with 3/2/1 places. In race one he worked his way back to third after his throttle jammed causing him to crash. In the last race, it was his arch rival’s turn to bite the dust – just as Kristian was making the pass.
Sam Meredith
secured first overall in the 6-8 Years Div 2 50cc MX class with a well merited
win and two seconds. He put in a lot of effort to beat his main rival, Luka
Freemantle. His brother Wade Meredith
(13/7/8) was 8th in the same class while Luke Fraser-Brown is still
at the social riding stage of the game, thoroughly enjoyed himself, and finished just outside the top 10 in 12th
position.
Sean Callinan, racing in the 7-8 Years 65cc class, started the day with a 4th but, helped by crashes by fellow rider #199, followed this with 2 second places which gave him 2nd overall for the day. He might need more practice before the next round. He has having some confidence issues re passing lappers and doesn’t feel he’s picking up as much pace as his rivals.
Also competing in the very popular 65cc classes were Jacob Hunt and Jontae Carroll who finished 15th and 17th respectively in the strong A grade 9-11 Years class. Both these riders are still adapting to the radical change between racing a 50cc and racing a 65cc in an older A grade group. It’s a rough tough world as you move up the ranks. Jacob has been knocked out of the gates by kids going sideways and smacked off into the corners by bigger riders but is still on track for a top 15 end to the series.
Alex Fraser-Brown (6/5/6) finished 6th in the 9-11 Years 65cc B grade class. Alex has been backing off a bit lately while regaining some of the confidence lost after recent bad falls.
Sam Cooper had intended to race the 65cc class but his bike broke down so he borrowed his sister’s 80cc and did two races in the Trail class instead, coming 4th in each. This was his second only race meeting and first time at Taupo. He absolutely loved it, has got the bug and is totally hooked.
Just a reminder to all the minis: It pays to clean your goggles before you go out to race!
In the junior classes there were success stories as well. The track was near perfect once the early light rain had cleared but it was pretty cold with snow visible on the mountains.
In the 85cc 8-10 Year class, Trent Duggan got good starts and came through with 3 second places to finish second overall for the day.
Chris Merriman with 6/5/8 results came 6th in the 85cc 11-12 Years age group with Brad Cameron (12/11/12) 10th and Trent Cameron (19/12/11) 14th. According to his Dad, Chris is going well. He, too, is picking up a good pace and keeping at it as opposed to going silly hard out and then crashing
Word from the Cameron camp reports that Brad is getting used to the track, getting better starts and getting a lot more speed. His jumping is a lot more confident as well. Trent Cameron, on the other hand, had bad starts. He found the “boggy” start gates with his front wheel in water a little disconcerting but his results improved as the day went on and the gates dried out.
In the older 13-16 Years 85cc class, Simon Atkinson’s great ride and 4th in the final race gave him 5th place overall for the day.
In the 125cc classes, Jayden Turnwald (4/3/3) was 3rd and Trent Haywood (12/11/10) 10th in the 12-14 Years.
Aaron Wiltshier (2/2/2) came second overall behind his Taupo team mate Hadleigh Knight. “The track was wicked with some nice ruts,” reports Aaron, “but they didn’t have the sawdust in this time round so the track was a lot faster”. Max Emett was 6th and Cole Atkinson was 7th. Max didn’t crash – a big positive – but wants to be faster and beat the kids he knows he can beat.
Matt Kenyon is still having “great fun” riding his 125 in the 14-16 Years 250cc class – he’s expecting a bike upgrade very soon.
The numbers at Taupo were down a little for round 3 and the weather forecast can perhaps be blamed a little. However, next month, remember that because they have good draining pumice soil, Taupo never or very, very rarely cancels.
Also, for the girls out there, don't forget there is a dedicated women's class at Taupo now.
