Vintage MX Round 2

Taupo results

Taupo welcomed round 2 of the Vintage MX series with awesome weather and a track that had been slightly adapted to suit the older machines.  This still left more than half of the big, open track that modern MXers use plus a lot of the jumps for the 100 plus riders that turned out for the event.  It was a well organized day with track waterings, good spectator viewing and no injuries.

Tauranga rider Keith Paterson was simply flying.  He blitzed both the Link Open and the Mr Vintage Open races and leads the series in both classes. “The Honda’s were the best handlers from that era,” he says. “I’m just starting to find my form on my 1985 CR500.  But it’s a lot harder to ride.  It takes that much more out of you just to hang on, I come back absolutely exhausted.”

Murray Wood was there in the recreational class so not riding for points.  He liked the track and thought the vintage bikes (the newest are 1985 models) were riding smooth and fast and jumping almost like the modern ones. “The big CRs in the open class going over the jumps were really impressive,” he says, then adds “the bikes have hardly any suspension so there are probably quite a few chiropractors’ appointments on the Monday.”

Some of the local riders achieved good results. Julie Managh was 4^th on the day and is 4^th in the series in the Link 125 class.  She also gained 6^th place in the Mr Vintage Lites race but having missed the first round lies 10^th overall.

Ray Hutt gained 1^st place in the EVO250 class which makes him 2^nd in the series ahead of Shane Snowdon in 4^th. Colin Davidson didn’t have a good day in the EVO Open but is in 3^rd place overall with Peter Ploen who missed this round in 6^th and Peter Van Lierop who missed the first round in 11^th.

Ian Conway’s 4^th place on the day took him to 2^nd place overall in the Link 250 class. Rob Sutherland, a recent convert to VMX racing, was 5^th in the Link Open class.  Ian was also successful in the Mr Vintage Mid-Bores race taking 1^st place and the series’ lead.  Ray Hutt was 2^nd in the same race and is 3^rd overall while Shane Snowdon is 9^th.

In the Mr Vintage Open that was won by Keith Paterson, Pieter Van Lierop was 4^th and is now in 7^th equal place with his friend and neighbour Peter Ploen who was absent this round.

Full results can be found on www.livewire.gen.nz 

and you can check out the video clip : www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaXpCXThokk

Please note that the VMX racing that was planned at the Whakatane Summercross has been unfortunately cancelled because of lack of entries.