Category: 2018

This is one of those events where everyone intends to take out the wins but Awakaponga always throws out a curve ball. I rode here last year and I had a terrible day. My starts were off and I didn’t back myself in the sawdust and sand and had heaps of accidents. This year I moved my goal from my Top 5 placing to a better finish than last year. Practice /qualifying was great, third fastest lap time and stayed upright. There was a layout change with added more turns and berms to this already challenging track but I can feel I have definitely grown in my riding over the last year because I didn’t wash out in the saw dust once today. Race 1 started well with a clean gate drop but as expected with 29 riders all heading into  one corner line, someone went down and there was a mass pile up. There were a few incidents this race and heaps of us were affected. My brake lever and gear shifter ended up where they shouldn’t have been but I was able to crawl around in first gear to finish. I finished last but got some points so it was better than a DNF. Race 2 I had another good start and was in a solid battle for third when I hit something (a rock or lump of track base) and went for a tumble. Race 3 it started to rain but I refused to let this track get the best of me today. My knee what fat from getting a handlebar in the leg in Race 1, I was starting to get tired but I rode hard and finished 4th. I found a couple of sweet lines that no one else was taking and railed some corners. It felt so good. 28-9-4 put me at 13th overall today and I’m ok with this as it is heaps better than 2017. This may be my nemesis track but I will keep coming back, not give up and continue to get a better result every year.

I had a great day at Harrisville today. We were expecting a rainy day and a sketchy track but Mother Nature must enjoy motocross because the clouds blew away and the track started to dry out after we pushed the mud around at practice.  Practice was slippery and without any ruts on the track yet it took a bit to control the powers slides around the corners. Race 1 was good, the start straight was sticky and it didn’t take long to get up the front of the pack and battle with the 85s. Race 2 started with a gnarly wheelie up the start straight  which I managed to keep under control and made it around holeshot corner in third or fourth. As the track got tackier my speeds started to get faster and I now have a new top speed here – 67 km/h. Race 3 was a different story though – I let the clutch out too fast, my front wheel hit the gate just before it hit the ground which sent m up to 12 o’clock doing a weather report. Luckily my bad start didn’t knock anyone else off and once I had picked my bike up and given everyone else a decent head start I got going and worked hard to ride down my competition. After the first lap I had made it up to 7th (from 17th and a quarter of a lap down) and by the flag I had made it up the 2nd in Pro65 and 3rg or 4th on the track. Sometimes I wish my races had just one more lap but I am happy with 1-1-2 for today. Definitely need to put some work into my starts again before the next few big one day events.

Today was another challenging day at Patetonga. This track is always hard, either way too wet or really dry but usually by lunchtime the track has good ruts and has lost most of it’s slipperiness. I rode Pro65 and Junior Open today and it was good to be in with some of the older riders and watch how they get around the track when it’s got puddles and slick lines. With Junior Nationals only 4 months away I am learning my strengths and weaknesses and working on them, my starts have been really strong and I have been pushing my limits without pushing them to the point of coming off my bike at race days. Today I went 1-1-1 in Pro65 which was on split start with the 85s and I wasn’t pointed for Junior Open as this was just for extra seat time.

After a weekend off racing last weekend to watch the SX Open in Auckland I was really wanting to ride somewhere this weekend. Because of the amount of storms hanging around so many tracks were closed but North King Country was staying open so we went down. It was flooding at home and two hours down the road it was blue skies and dry track. There were only four Pro65 riders today so we rode split start with the Under 13 85s and I enjoyed the competition. My starts have improved, I watched the older riders between races and took some new lines and it made a difference to my lap times and speeds. The last time I rode here was Waikato Champs and I had two offs but today I showed I had learned from those mistakes and instead of over thinking what I was going to do, or not do, I kept my head up and focused on the next obstacle. I really like clay tracks because they are hard and fast but I need to start spending some time in the sand getting a feel for it before heading to Flipps for Junior Nationals in April. When I told mum and dad I wanted to ride Junior Nats it felt like it was so far off but now it’s only 3 one day events and 8 club days away.

The last of the summer series I am riding in started today with the first round of Puke MX at Harrisville. I got to wear my new AliAs gear from Holeshot MX and felt pretty good lining up for practice with the other Pro65s and 8-10 year old 85s. There wasn’t a huge turnout today so I was focused on beating the 85 riders I knew. The track was really nice and not too dry or sticky all day. I set myself a goal to finish 1st for Pro65 and Top 3 for the all in.  I went 1-1-1 for my class and 2-2-1 in track position overall. At Round 1 of the 2017 summer series I had my fastest lap time of the season and today I beat it by 13 seconds. My new top speed is 64.6 km/h. I didn’t over do it today or take any unnecessary risks… I rode smart, choosing good lines and making clean passes and stayed on my bike. I now have my sights set on Summercross at Awakaponga and Woodville. It’s going to be a good summer.

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.

We left home at 5am in the rain so I could compete in the Waikato Champs held at North King Country MX Clubs track near Te Kuiti today and it was worth the early alarm. We came down a couple of weeks ago for a practice day and I was glad we did. It’s a clay track and has a gnarly zig zag hair pin corner downhill section straight after a step up which took me a few laps to figure out, I wouldn’t have liked attacking it for the first time in the wet. It wasn’t too soggy at the track and with the fog it felt like we were racing in the clouds. Practice went really well and I got the 2nd fastest qualifying time so 2nd gate pick for the rest of the day. Race 1 I took off out the gates and half way down the start straight 12 o’clocked my bike and ended up in the dirt. I don’t know what happened so I started the race dead last and rode my hardest and fought back up to 5th with my goggles flapping on my arm because I broke my roll offs and the film was tangled around my rear brake. In race 2 I had a much better start and spent the first couple of laps overtaking riders up the step up, through the zig zag and in the air to get myself out in front and put some space between me and second. I was so stoked with my win. Mum said it was hard to watch because I was going so fast, I felt good on my bike and really comfortable with the lines I was taking. Race 3 was the best start, I got the holeshot and for the whole race until the white flag had a half lap on the person behind me. On the last lap I took a corner wide to go around a lapper and came up on the rhythm section crooked and over jumped it landing on my front wheel and did a moto cartwheel. I had lost a few spots and was annoyed at myself so I worked really hard to get something back and finished 2nd. I was pretty gutted with my silly crash but I still finished 2nd overall for the day and for my first time racing here and in the conditions I am proud of my result.

Today was the last round of Cambridge’s 2018 series, they usually run into November but with SX Open coming to Auckland on their next race meet weekend and everyone who is into moto heading to that they thought they’d cancel their last round so they can go enjoy it too. The Pro65s rode in with the 85s again today and before our first race I watched the bigger bikes go through their practices and watched the lines they were taking to get through the couple of boggy areas. When race 1 started I knew what lines I was going to try but I kicked my bike into fourth gear instead of third and had a really slow start. I wasn’t going to let this set the pace for my day and I chased down most of the field, overtaking on corners, through the mud and in the air. I had the fastest 65 lap time and was only 3 seconds off the 85s best time. Races 2 and 3 were just as good but with better starts. The mud here used to bother me but now I have figured it out I was getting better with each lap. I went 1-1-1 for Pro65 today and was making the faster 85 rider ride hard so they weren’t overtaken by a little bike. Even though I only did 3 of 5 rounds (because some race days clash with Taupo) I finished 2nd overall for the winter season. South Waikato club also had their prize giving this afternoon after a fun ride day and I finished 1st overall for their Pro65 season, one of my moto mates collected it for me so I will get it next weekend. Pretty happy to get two trophies in one day and I’m already looking forward to the next Cambridge and Tokoroa seasons.

 

We didn’t come down to MX Fest last year because we didn’t know what a massive event it was and I was getting ready to ride Demo 65 at Supercross at Tokoroa. I am so glad we came this year.  Because Taupo ran a Pro65 class at their club days this year they added a Pro65 class to MX Fest for the first time. There were 30 entries and some people I haven’t ridden against before but I had heard they were fast. I got the second fastest time in qualifying and finished 7th in Race 1 after stalling on the step up under a yellow flag. The flag marshal stepped on to the track in front of me due to an accident on the top of the step up and I stomped the brakes so I didn’t run him over. It was kind of lucky that it happened where it did as the rider behind me was in the air and if I had been moving forward he would have landed on me. In Race 2 I was hungry to get a better result so I could be on the podium at the end of the day, I pushed myself and started clearing jumps and the step up every lap and finished third. Race 3 I won which was an awesome end to a great day. I rode hard all day, going higher and further on the step up and DAM jump than I have before. I was scared of going this big during the winter series but today I tried it in practice  and realised it was possible. I was so happy with my third place for today, being on the podium and smashing another goal.

I love racing at our local track because it’s 5 minutes down the road so I get a sleep in. It’s also hard pack clay and reminds me a lot of Fairbairn MX track in Canberra. Hard pack tracks are really fast but can hurt if you crash and get super slick when it rains. Pro65 rode in with the under 12 85s and after an interesting Race 1 I found my form and went for it. In Race 1 I stomped down too many gears and ended up in neutral in a corner and then I slid around up the top of the hill and ended up under my bike. Races 2 and 3 I stayed up with the top 8-10 85 cc riders, I chose good lines and committed to the jumps which made up heaps of time. I rode big track with the 85s at Round 5 last season and today my lap times had improved on average by 10 seconds. 2-1-1 today so now my goal of Top 5 at Valley Champs next month is going to change… I’m going to try win it now, or settle for Top 3.