Takeovers, Catchups & Consolidation
Taupo Winter Series
Competition was fierce at round 5 of the Taupo 2013 Winter series. It was the second to last round and definitely the time to catch up, take over and consolidate race points and positions. A certain number of local riders did just that, especially on the Mini Track.
Take Over
Sam Meredith staged an awesome “takeover’. He topped the podium in the 9-11 Years 65cc A grade class and his 2-1-1 results have moved him into first place overall for the series. He has created a gap of 8 points between himself and former front-runner Kase Pullen-Burry. Kase had a confidence-denting off in race two, however, Sam Meredith was totally “on fire”. got the hole shot and was gone, taking his lap times down from 27 seconds at qualifying to consistent 23 second race laps.
Catch Up
Tori Cooper is a delighted young lady on the catch up trail. Her 1st place in the 7-11 Yrs Trail class has taken her to within 5 points of overall leader Brylee Gordon with just one round to go. It is going to come down to the wire in September.
Sam Cooper (8/5/10) hasn’t done enough rounds to be in contention for a series placing but he was happy with his 7th position for the day and particularly with his lap times. He’s catching up and gained 4 seconds over the day. He just needs to find another 5.
Jakob Bourne had the 4th fastest time in practice and his best round of the series so far with a 5th, 9th (yes, he crashed) and 6th. Things are really starting to click with Jakob – he’s started to think about racing and about positioning himself to compete.
Today’s clean sweep means Maximus Purvis has caught up his 1 round deficit and is within 6 points of overall leader Bronson Leiataua.
Consolidate
Wade Meredith, with a first and 2 seconds, topped the podium in the 6-8 Years MX 50cc division 2, consolidated his top place on the series leader board and now has an almost 2 race buffer between him and second place. He’s fired up and riding fast and confidently. The Merediths, in particular, had a very exciting and successful day and some of that success, they feel, is due to the regular bike time they’ve been having at the After School sessions with Broxy and Scott Barr-Smith.
In the same MX50cc class, Kristian Crane had a really good race2 and finished 6th on the day.
Sean Callinan (pictured) did not have his best day. His “catching up” wasn’t in the points area, it was on the track and mainly because of bad starts. Twice he was last out of the gate but he also fell off a couple of times. Perhaps they passed the word, it is unsure, but Sean, Alex Fraser-Brown and Luke Fraser-Brown found solidarity in all ending up the day on 29 points. Alex, who tied with Sean in the 9-11 65cc A grade class, had one of his better rounds of the series while Luke is in 9th position overall in the 7-8 Yrs 65cc class.
As far as the Juniors are concerned, Jayden Turnwald (1/1/1) has a very secure hold on the overall in the Junior 12-14 Yrs 125cc class. Tyler Steiner (2/2/2), however is really flying at the moment and was pretty close behind. His starts aren’t always optimal but when he gets going Tyler’s got amazing pace. Jovhann Phillips (3/3/3) is still getting back to speed after injury so has some catching to do laptime-wise. Tyler and Jovhann are in 6th and 14th positions respectively overall due to rounds missed.
Chris Merriman didn’t gain any ground on the 11-12 years 85cc leader Hayden Smith but he had a solid second place on the day and is in an equally solid 2nd position for the series.
Trent Duggan has moved up a notch after only a couple of rounds in the Junior 11-12 85cc class and his starts are getting heaps better. Jordan Milsom from Te Puke is proving to be a challenge for other riders as well.
On the senior side, Whakatane’s Darren Capill has won every race and leads the men’s vets and is running a close 2nd overall in the MX1.
Aaron Wiltshier is on the cusp of the junior & senior grades and moving between them with great pace and skill and consideravle success.
The tracks at Taupo were top class, as usual and, except for a small shower, the weather was kind.
Below are some of the results but please note that these are the official results for riders with transponders. There are usually a number of transponderless riders who are not counted in the points.
Mini Track
4-7 Yrs 50cc Intro: 1st Jacob Smith, 2nd Phoenix van D, 3rd Ajay Jordan.
4-8 Yrs 50cc Div 1: 1st Cody Griffiths, 2nd Reid Gordon.
6-8 Yrs MX 50cc Div 2: 1st Wade Meredith (2/1/2), 2nd Seth Hansen (1/7/1), 3rd Davi Jordan (3/5/3) 6th Kristian Crane (7/4/8), 7th Jakob Bourne (5/9/6).
7-11 Years Trail: 1st Tori Cooper (1/2/1), 2nd Brylee Gordon (2/1/2), Jamie Davis (3/3/3).
7-8 Yrs 65cc: 1st Carl Woodman-Smith, 2nd Rhys Jillings, 3rd Boston Doherty, 11th Luke Fraser-Brown
9-11 Yrs 65cc A grade: 1st Sam Meredith (2/1/1), 2nd Toby Winiata, 3rd Kase Pullen-Burry, 7th Sam Cooper (8 /5/10), 12th =Sean Callinan (14/11/9) & Alex Fraser-Brown (11/10/13)
9-11 Yrs 65cc A grade: 1st Corey Smith, 2nd Jimi Smith, 3rd Mitchell Lewis.
Main Track
Junior 12-14 Yrs 125cc: 1st Jayden Turnwald (1/1/1), 2nd Tyler Steiner (2/2/2), 3rd Jovhann Phillips (3/3/3)
Junior 13-16 85cc: 1st Maximus Purvis (1/1/1), 2nd Bronson Leiataua (2/2/2), 3rd Jake Tomblin (3/3/5)
Junior 14-16 250cc: 1st Nathan Henderson (2/1/1), 2nd Jakib Bourke-Palmer (3/3/2), 3rd Rhys Wheatley (4/4/4), 6th Aaron Wiltshier (1/-/-)
Junior 15-16 Yrs 125cc: 1st Ethan Watkins (1/1/1), 2nd Warren Bartlett (2/2/2), 3rd= Chace Johnston (3/5/3) & Ryan Gwynn (4/3/4)
Junior 8-10 85cc: 1st Ryan Webley (3/3/3), 2nd Ethan Fladgate (2/2/2), 3rd Kian De Lacy (3/3/3)
Junior 11-12 85cc: 1st Hayden Smith (1/1/1), 2nd Chris Merriman (2/2/3), 3rd Cameron Wash (4/3/2), 4th Jordan Milsom (3/6/4), 11th Trent Duggan (10/10/12)
MX1: 1st Darren Capill, 2nd Ricky Deadman, 3rd Nathan Horn
MX2: 1st Hadleigh Knight (1/1), 2nd= Josh Charlwood (4/2) & Hamish Stening (3/3), 8th Aaron Wiltshier (2/-)
Senior Support Overs: 1st Nathan Henderson, 2nd Jaden Wall, 3rd Oscar Hutching.
Senior Support Unders: 1st Isaak Moore, 2nd Arthur Horne, 3rd Michael Friday.
Womens: 1st Sarah Elwin, 2nd Taylar Rampton, 3rd Rebecca Clark.
Vets 35-44: 1st Darren Capill (1/1/1), 2nd Dion Steiner (2/2/2), 3rd Bevan Weal (3/3/3)
Vets 45+: 1st Brendon Dally (1/1/1), 2nd Darrin Hall (2/2/2), 3rd Chris clark (3/3/3).
