One Very Fast GNCC

Round 2 Te Puke

maddix park mx

Saturday was a particularly successful day for Tauranga’s Reece Burgess (pictured) when he won the Elite class at Round 2 of the GNCC in Te Puke and took over the series lead.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Reece though. “I was not fast enough off the start line”, he reports, “but a few corners in, I was able to pass to second before being taken wide by a throttle happy rider and dropping a few spots into the trees. After a few kms I had picked off a some riders and pulled in behind Jason Davis.

The open sections were unknown and fast, so Jason acted as a braking point guide and I passed under late brakes. There was a fair hoard of bikes lined up and lapping riders on the second lap proved difficult due to the polite and quiet nature of my bike. Chris Power’s bike is loud, and I was able to pull him in at one point to help get through the traffic. All up I was happy with my effort and I managed to put a better cornering method into practice which added to the enjoyment of racing. All going well, I can hold onto the series lead I now have”.

Other local riders were very much present at the GNCC event as well. The Rookies, Clubmans, Experts, Pros, Youth and Women’s classes all had age categories.

Rookies:

Lance Lilley, in the Rookies 45+ class, had a big bad off.  “I’m not sure what happened exactly. It was on a long straight piece; I just went over the bars. I think a bit of wood went through the wheel.  I can’t cough properly- my ribs I think- but in spite of that, it was an absolutely awesome day.”  Paul Callinan, in the same class and with a day’s hindsight, agrees, but on the day itself, found the going tough. “It was really tight, like being on a little goat track with handlebars touching the trees on both sides in places” he reports. “Of course, the top guys just raced round, but it was hard work for me”. Tauranga’s Matt Cooney took 3rd place on the 45 + podium but Paengaroa’s Kevin Wendt’s 4th place takes him to 2nd place overall in the series.

Richard Marriner lies in 3rd position in the GNCC series in the 35-44 age group. This group is lead by Tauranga’s Neville Jones who was first on the day at Te Puke.

Among the Tauranga riders in the 14-20 age group, Leo van Lierop was 5th, Reuben Steens 6th, Aiden Sheely 9th and Jackson Blake (Te Puke),  who has just made the big step up into GNCC racing and did 3 laps, was 10th.  Reuben, who currently leads the series, managed to stay away from the injuries but found it really tough going. “I got caught up in some carnage in the first lap”, he reports, “but even with that sorted it was hard, really rough, with roots and ruts and bull holes in the paddocks”.

Ladies :  Rookie Ladies Chelsea Trueman and Savannah Blake were 3rd and 4th respectively at Te Puke but are placed 2nd and 3rd overall in the 14-20 Years class.  Savannah was just off second but spent more time in usual in the pits straightening out her front wheel and handle bars after a crash in one of the laps.  Shirley Sheely had a good race and placed 2nd in the 35+ class. Drisana Sheely thought the track was good but “it got really rough at the end”.  She was 3rd in the Senior Ladies 14-20 ahead of Morgan Edwards from Whangamata.

For Janelle Walker, in the Senior Ladies 21-34 class, it was an “eye-opening experience” riding with the big guys. “I had fun but it wasn’t easy”, she states. “There were a lot of single track sections and tree roots. It kept you on your toes and you have to use the breaks well. I’m not fast so I held up a few.  I got lapped on the first lap but I’m pleased it was Reece (the overall winner from Tauranga)”. “However, I made it to the end and I wasn’t last!” she adds.

Clubmans:  Gavin Weston hasn’t been on his bike more than 3 times this year and thought he would be “stuffed” after 20 minutes of riding. However, he bulked up on bananas and fluids and finished 3rd in the Clubman 45+ class.  “It was even better than last year’, he comments, “the weather was brilliant and it seemed faster going the other way”.

Land owner, Murray Jensen, was another Clubman 45+ rider. He got a bit of ribbing about “knowing the track and having a home advantage”, especially when he won the class. “I did know where the tight sections, farmland and bull dozed tracks were, but it’s not always an advantage”, he says, “especially when more than 100 riders churn it over - the 2nd lap is never the same”. “Also”, he adds, “I got dehydrated on the Friday and was fighting cramps all the way”. In the same 45+ class, Les Howard (Katikati) was 4th, Ross Hawke (Tauranga) was 6th and Simon Hayes (Papamoa) was 7th.

Bryce Fisher, 6th in the 35-44 Clubmans, found the event gruelling, hard and very demanding but he loved it. “I’m not 100% convinced that running the experts and the pros all in together with us is a good idea”, he says, “but the event was great and really well run”. Other local place getters included Peter Garrett 3rd, Neville Trow 8th, Marty Blake, who lost a lot of time when he lost a bolt out of his front sprocket, 15th, Steve Milsom 16th and Nathan Smith 17th

The Clubmans 21-34 class saw Te Puke’s Vincent Wallis take the win and maintain his series lead.  Eldon Frost was 8th, Tim Salter 10th and Jordan Manning 11th with these three Tauranga riders now 4th,5th and 6th overall. Tim had a bit of a crash but it was all good and he finished tired but happy.  

The Clubmans 14-20 saw George Dimec (Cambridge) come home 4th and Cam McCaskie 8th.  Cam got involved in the big crash in the first lap.  He limped into the pits with a broken gear lever and broken back mudguard, did another lap all in second gear before fitting a replacement lever and finishing the race at speed. He might have had bad luck, but Cam still really enjoyed the day.

Experts:  Mike Sheely came 3rd on the day but leads the 35+ group ahead of Paul Knight (Whakatane). “It was a hard, fast track”, says Mike, “probably the fastest GNCC we’ve had. I held off Phil Skinner, the winner, for the first 3 laps but Phil had the fitness while I slowed down for the last three”.

In the 21-34 group, Paul Ritchie (Tauranga) beat Shane Howard (Katikati) to first place on the day but Shane leads the series with Paul in 3rd position.

Danny Merriman had the flu and his arms felt like they were coming out of their sockets. However, even though he finished 5th in the 14-20 year group, he is 2nd in the series with Luke Henry  4th overall. Chris Foster maintained his 3rd position. 

Pros:  Andrew Schuit (Whakatane) maintained his 3rd position in the 35+ class while Dion Sheely lies 5th in the 14-20 age group.

Youth 10-11Jordan Milsom was third, Chris Merriman 4th and Max Wealleans 5th in their class but the overall series has Max 2nd, Jordan 4th and Chris, who has only done one round, 10th.  Chris normally rides in the 65cc MX races. He’s just getting into his 85 and is still a bit “dodgy” on corners.  He thinks he might have got lost a bit, as well.

Full results are available on the SilverBullet site. 

Video footage is on You Tube

The next round of the GNCC is being held at Maddix Park on Saturday December 10th 2011. Go to the GNCC site for more info.

 
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