Patetonga Valley Champs 2018 (again!). I took part in the original 2018 Valley Champs earlier this year in February but since the club is hosting round 2 of the North Island Champs the decision was made to bring this VC’s forward a few months so all NI racing was done over summer. After Waikato Champs I wasn’t going to ride as I have had a nasty chest infection that won’t go away but I begged mum to at least let me try and if I was too sick I’d just cheer on my mates. The club put on a great day and there was a good turn out of Juniors, the Pro65 group had 26 riders from all over so there were some new riders to figure out. I had a pretty terrible practice with so many silly mistakes and so much coughing, I thought I had really stuffed things up but had the 5th fastest lap time so didn’t have the worst gate pick. At this is our local track I have learnt how to start from every gate on the grid but I do have my favourite spots. Race 1 was good, the clay wasn’t as sticky after all the bigger bikes had done their practice and I was able to keep a good speed going. Tried a couple of different lines which didn’t quite work out and finished 2nd. I just missed the holeshot in race 2 and had some awesome battles with the other riders and was happily clearing the step up and tabletop but the last lap was under yellow flag due to a huge accident near the finish line where a rider broke his leg. Racing stopped for an hour or so while the medics did their job and once the rescue chopper had gone we were able to carry on with our afternoon. Race 3 I really pushed myself and was overtaking riders through the whoops and over the step up. I got my footpeg stuck in a deep rut out the back of the track which caused a bit of a problem and I lost a few places but got angry and rode back to 4th. I finished 2nd overall today which I am happy with that given the circumstances. In February I finished 5th overall so I have improved and I hit my goals of Top 3 and sub 2 minute lap times. I have also moved up from 5th in points for NI Champs after Sand Prix to 2nd. The last round is at King of the Mountain in Taranaki in January, a week before Woodville so we are going to pack up and stay down in the Mighty Manawatu for a couple of weeks and get some track time in at Flipps before the Junior Nationals in April.
Soren Staudinger 