The last round of Pukekohe MXs summer series was held at Mercer and it was good to finally have a crack at the big sand track. As this was a late decision due to Harrisville being too wet to ride no-one had been able to have a go here before practice started. This track is so different to the smooth, dry clay track we have been riding for the rest of the series… grass start gates, deep sandy straights and gritty ruts, wet corners that blow out through the day and some unexpected bit pot holes by the time we headed out for race 3. It was a challenging day of riding and the skills I have been working on at training definitely helped my position. I had a couple of offs, a tangle at the start of race 1 and stalled in the deep sand on the last lap of race 3 but held it together for 3rd overall for the day. Prize giving followed racing and after a very inconsistent first Pro65 season of learning, top speeds, new tricks, crashes and a loss of focus I finished 4th overall. It’s a good result considering I did one series of 7-8 year old 65cc at TECT and one at Mercer before jumping into 8 – 11 year old Pro65 and bypassing 9 – 11 year old 65cc on the mini track. While it has been hard work I have really enjoyed the challenges.
Soren Staudinger 