Weekend of Nationals

Senior MX - Enduro - Cross Country

maddix park mx

Senior MX Nationals Patetonga

Trans-Tasman travelling obvious suits Cody Cooper

He arrived back from the Australian National MX season launch on Thursday (racing starts there in a couple of weeks) and on Sunday stormed to victory in the second round of the NZ MX Nationals at Patetonga. Rotorua’s Michael Phillips won the first race with Cody second but in races 2 and 3 of the MX1 class, not even Josh Coppins had an answer for Cody’s speed and style.  He is now in second place in the series behind Coppins.

The day started cold and damp.  The club had done a great job on the prep. For the first races the track was muddy and one lined but it transformed into a rutty pick a line by the end of the day.

Tauranga’s Scott Barr-Smith (pictured above) is also in second place in the series but in the 125cc class behind Ethan Martens.  Although he started with heavily taped ankles, relics of past injury, Scott was pretty happy with his weekend. “I made a couple of silly mistakes”, he reports. “My first race I grabbed the holeshot and for a few laps led. Martens then got past for a lap or two but I then made a pass back on him out the back on a rutty section. The next lap I saw him coming hot into me, so I braked early and squared him up and again held my lead. I stayed out front till about 5 laps to go before he got me. I made a few mistakes and Martens got a few second buffer on me but didn’t pull away after that and we stayed at the same place till finish. In race 2, I led all but the last two laps before making a silly mistake and Martens slipped by. In race 3, I again made some mistakes and Martens got a buffer. I tried to charge back but hooked my ankle in a rut and that was the charge over. With a few laps to go, I did what I needed to and finished in second again”.

Logan Blackburn’s day wasn’t quite as successful.  He started race one feeling good.  His bike was running well, the track was drying out and some good ruts were forming. Then things went downhill. “Someone hit my back wheel and I went down and the bike flipped end for end.  Still in one piece and with a fat lip, I got back up and started the chase for the top 10”, he tells us, “Then another bike got out of control in a rut and fell on top of me and I went down again!  But this time the bike was damaged, the rear bike lever was jammed onto the foot peg so I rode the rest of the race with no brakes.  But I did manage to hold onto my current position of 15th. In race 2, I got a good jump off the line but I got taken down on the holeshot corner!!!  My leg got stuck under the bike and it hurt like hell!  I managed to get going again and fight my way through. Finished a disappointing 18th”.

Race 3 was his best of the day and Logan finished 12th overall for the day in the under 21s which leaves him  9th overall in the series so far.

All riders are looking forward to the next round in Rotorua on March 20th. Full results can be seen on www.mylaps.com

Enduro Nationals Round 3 Whangamata

Reece Burgess had a successful and enjoyable day at the Enduro Nationals.

The track was clay based with some rocks but mainly forestry trails. Colose to 100 riders completed 2 laps of the 95km track which included a number of much appreciated relaxing linking roads. Reece was pleased the weather held up well. “It had been quite wet in the region over the last few weeks”, he says, “so I was not sure what to expect. All tests were blind and I was on number 1 so if the weather packed it in I would have an advantage but otherwise you can find yourself cutting the trails so the other riders can see where to go and where not to go”.  “All the tests were very tight, he adds, “and you were lucky to use third gear but they had some flow.”

“The second time round”, he continues, “I didn’t need to worry about where I was going but at the same time the ruts caught me off guard a bit as they were deep enough to cross rut if you got out at the wrong time. The track was so tight it essentially was single lane and gave you little choice on where to ride but I still was having fun although it did wear the skin off in a few spots”.

Reece finished 5th overall in the Expert class which was won by Rory Mead and 3rd in his300 Open 2 stroke Class behind rory mead and Adam Reeves. Reecee is still the class leader for the series.

Dion Sheely rode to 4th place in his Expert 200- Open 2 stroke class, a 20 point penalty, not sure what for, depriving him of 3rd place.

Andrew Schuit from Whakatane came 5th in the Expert Vets class that was one by Sean Clarke.

Drisana Sheely found the going difficult.  Usually there are different tracks for the experts and the intermediates.  This time there weren’t.  Certain hills were so steep that the intermediates and girls often had to walk their bikes down.

For full results go to www.silver-bullet.co.nz

Most riders are gearing up for the Castrol 6 Hour Race in Matata this coming weekend.

NZ North Island Cross Country Champs  Raglan

See Andy McGechan's article on www.bikesportnz.com  and the "Creative Corner Cutting = Penalties" comment  on Feb 27th on the Maddix Park  blog.  Any local riders with info, please contact [email protected]   Thanks.

 
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