National Event Catch Up
TT @ Kuratau & Final NZ Enduro 2011
NZ TT Champs, Kuratau 23rd/24th July 2011
The NZ TT Champs had races for both 2 wheelers and quad bikes and there was plenty of action and drama in both categories.
Logan Blackburn’s podium chances in the Senior Up to 200 2 Stroke class were scuttled mainly because of bike problems and his 6th place overall does not reflect the true state of his current form. Logan had found some sneaky lines during practice on the grass paddock, speedway like track and was ready for the weekend. However, the tip of his spark plug came off in race 1 giving him his first DNF and the brakes played up on the borrowed KTM he used for race 2, leaving him 5th. In races 3 and 4 he found his rhythm & some good lines but ran out of time to bang bars with the leaders so finished 2nd & 3rd respectively. Unfortunately, Logan crashed big at high speed in the last lap of Race 5, bit a chunk out of his tongue and DNFed.
Scott Canham (Rotorua) managed a first place in race 3 but finished 2nd overall behind Cam Dillon (Taupo) in the Senior 201-250 2 stroke/250 4 Stroke class. Campbell King was 4th. In the Women’s MX class, won by Alex Dillon(Taupo) , Melissa Patterson from Rotorua was 3rd. Garth Amrein (Katikati) came 7th out of the 30 qualifiers in the 14-16 years 125cc class.
Several locals competed in the quad classes. Mark Goldstone was 5th in the Open 0-750cc class, a creditable showing view the illustrious competition. He was racing against Ian Ffitch, Quentin Palmer and Jason Jepson. but in one race. He was in 3rd place in one of the races when he had a bike problem. His key shorted out and he finished the race by pushing the quad across the line.
His sister Emma was the most successful quad rider. She had a 1/1/1/1 romp through the first 4 of the 5 races in the Ladies class but finished 2nd overall when her quad threw a chain in race 5 and Emma DNFed.
The Hunt family were also among the many quads at Kuratau. Rob came 6th in the Vets class. The track got quite cut up (by the 2 wheelers, of course) and was quite hard at the end but Rob enjoyed the atmosphere and the weekend in general. His 10 year old son Nathan (pictured) was by far the youngest in his class but thoroughly enjoyed mixing it with the older juniors and their faster quads and his 5th place finish.
See Andy McGechan’s article on the TT and My Laps for the detailed results.
Taupo Enduro Round 6 National Enduro Series 2011 23rd July
Reece Burgess was flying the flag for Tauranga at the final round of the National Enduro Series 2011. Reece finished in second place in the 300cc+ class behind Rory Mead, who had flown back from the States just for the event. In this series, riders drop their worst round.
Reece reports that the Taupo Enduro was 155km of pine base trails being mainly scoria and rich soil with the odd clay base section. There were 4 tests in total, each done twice. Rain was forecast for the weekend but held off for ½ the day and as this soil drains well, it’s the best place to be in the wet. “Expecting the track to be parts of existing tracks and with a strong possibility of rain, I signed in on minute 2, meaning I would depart at 10:02 and be one of the first 6 to see the track,” says Reece. “Unfortunately the tracks were virgin trails that were hard to follow when trying to go fast and I was caught out in each of the first tests making a mess of my times. I decided that my approach was all wrong for this event so I took it easy over the next few tests and evened out my times to a stable 5th in each test”.
The rain did arrive and Reece was plagued by boiling radiator water & goggle vision issues. “Even on my own in the trails vision was tough and goggles only provided 20min before they had to come off so your eyes got a work out along with the rest of the body. The 150km of abrasive soil had worn out the front sprocket so it shows how the grit gets everywhere and wears into everything including your clothing chafing more than in the Tarawera 100”.
Reece also now knows where the expression “hare-brained” comes from. “During the endurance stage, a hare came barrelling down the track towards me on a road in a game of chicken over about 30m and surprisingly did not veer off. Needless to say it came off worse, dropping dead in the middle of the track”.
Overall Reece is happy with the six rounds. “Each round in a challenging series has its own difficulties and you learn from these experiences”. He’ll no doubt be back for more next year.
See Andy McGechan’s article on the Enduro and the Silver Bullet site for the detailed results.
