Coops Does It Again!

Tarawera 100

The Tarawera 100 once again reinforced its reputation as an iconic event. Over 170 riders lined up for the famous shotgun start and 155 finished the race after some highly competitive riding through wet paddocks and rough forest tracks. Cody Cooper won the event for the second year in a row ahead of flatmate Rhys Carter. Tauranga rider Reece Burgess was barely 25 seconds back in 3^rd position. Peter Broxholme came in 8^th overall, with Scott Barr-Smith 15^th (1^st in the 0-200cc class) and Chris Foster 23^rd.

“It was my third win out of 3 Taraweras,” says Coops, “but this year was definitely harder than last. The track was basically the same. They had bladed it but the bumps chopped up real fast. My start wasn’t so good – I wanted the holeshot but was second. Then I dropped the front a bit and crashed before I even got to the trees. The last mishap was running out of fuel. Fortunately it happened at the end of a lap so I was able to just roll into the pits. I went a little slower in the last laps just to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. But it was a good race.”

Rhys Carter also found the race great fun although he, too, had a rough start. “I crashed twice in the first part”, he reports, “so I was only 30^th going into the trees. I had to push to get back near the front. The track got really rough and the last 2 laps were particularly gnarly.” “All good training though,” he adds.

After winning the Dirt Guide Series and having the good fortune to get in a few newspaper articles, the expectation was for Reece Burgess to do well and he was pleased with the result he gained after 100 miles against a respectable field of riders. However, his ride wasn’t totally bad-luck-free.

“I was riding solid and fast and I hit the half way mark of the lap with a very fast flow," he says, "until I hit a bump slightly wrong and hit a tree hard, taking skin off my right shoulder, putting holes in my shirt, before hitting the ground on my other shoulder, flattening my fire extinguisher on my back. The bike proved tough and in one piece with the bars and wheel twisted about 30 degrees so I picked it up, listened for any sound of a bike then got moving again before I felt any pain.” Click here for Reece’s full race report.

For Scott Barr-Smith, it was his first Tarawera 100 but it didn't start well. His bike didn’t fire when the shotgun did so he was almost last off the start. The first lap was a mission making passes in the tight bush sections. The next obstacle for the race was his hands. “Sitting at the computer desk for work does no favours for moto cross hands, and as I haven’t been riding a lot lately my hands didn’t hold up too well,” he admits. After crashing and flipping over the bars in lap 3, Scott didn’t think he would make the fourth lap. However, the perseverance paid off with an overall placing of 15th and the win in the under 200cc class.Click here for full race report.

Grant Smith, 41^st overall, really enjoyed it. He had done it a couple of times before but this was the first time he had felt a bit more competitive. “It was a crazy start,” he says, “great for spectators, and an awesome race. I was pretty knackered after 100 km but forced myself along for the other 60km. It was long, but I loved it!”

Ashley Bond had a few hassles with her bike but was rapt with her ride. She finished 4th in the Women's class and 119th overall - a big improvement on her DNF in 2010.

Lance Lilley, 146^th, admits he’s getting older and slower, but hopes to be at the Tarawera 100 for a few more years yet. He enjoys just getting out and doing it. “There were some good bogs on the loop,” he reports “and some soft hills that shouldn’t have been an issue. However, it only takes one rider to get it wrong and then there’s a major bottleneck. I got caught up in a couple. There was also some carnage in the wet at the start,” he adds, “There were a lot coming off so I just cruised around the outside.”

Check out the youtube clip of the start here.

Gavin Weston, 138^th overall, also remarked on the start. “The start was in a wet paddock; in fact the first two paddocks were wet so those that got out front did well. The rest of the track was the same as last year but quite rough. I made a few suspension adjustments in the first lap which helped but the bike had been set up for the Te Teko trail ride the week before so it wasn’t quite right for Tarawera.”

Eldon Frost had a good first lap then electrical problems with his bike left him in 153rd position. James Donaldson went over a berm and smacked a tree in lap one. He hurt his shoulder a little, couldn't start his bike so got towed back for a DNF.

Richard Marriner, 98th overall, had a perfect race for the first 2.5 laps. Then he hesitated in front of a puddle, was tipped off into it by another rider and ended up with one drowned bike. “It was heart breaking sitting there watching all the ones I had toiled to pass, riding on by,” he laments. “I was there for about 20 mins before a marshall gave a helping hand and I was off once more. I lost at least 18 places because of that.” “I was hoping to get in 4 laps,” he adds, “but because of the forced stop I managed only 3. Also, the race stops 5min after the “big” guys get in and there were a lot of the “big” guys racing on Saturday.”

Daryll King, Peter Broxholme, Cody Cooper, Rhys Carter, Adrian Smith, Michael Phillips would no doubt be included on the “big guys” list. You know when the big bikes are coming,” says one competitor, “they come up behind, you hear the bikes revving and then you hear the riders screaming at the top of their lungs. You can’t make out what they are saying exactly, but you sure get the message to get out of their way!” (Cody Cooper says he says thank you as he goes past).

Other local riders featuring in the overall results include: Richard Hutchison (60th), Andrew Schuit (69th), Michael Phillips (72nd), Greg McNabb (109th), and Dave Constable (135th).

Race entries at the 2011 Tarawera 100 were lower than previous years. Why one might ask?

The current economic situation is having an effect on race entries around the country but could it also be because of changes in the types of riders fronting up. The predominance of basic blokes and women, mainly trail riders, has been giving way to an increasing number of MX riders using the Tarawera event as a practice or training event. It has been suggested that maybe the general rider feels the event has moved out of his/her league. Who knows ?

We do know, however, that, by next year, the aches, the exhaustion and the tense bodies will be forgotten and riders will be lining up for another go at the Tarawera Trail Bike Riders Club 2012 Tarawera 100.

Full list of overall results are on www.mylaps.com . List of class results will be on www.ttbrc.co.nz