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From - Tim Gibbes:
We\'ve all come to Christmas & New Year at the same time, strangely enough! So in accordance with traditions of the period, may Joan & I wish you a very enjoyable Christmas & New Year period.
Just spare a thought for those who will be working on Christmas Day preparing, practising & qualifying for the 50th Anniversary of the Wanganui Cemetery Circuit street races on Boxing Day. We\'ll be there watching your \"passings\" on the screen with our \"Track Timing\" transponder system.
Two rounds of the Motorcycle Trader & News New Zealand Road Race Championships have been completed, and results of the Manfeild event appear on the website, plus series points for each class, & will be updated as the series moves to the South Island.
We visited a couple of events in Australia recently, the first being the final round of the World Championship Super Motard at Broadford, Victoria. My story, not a blow by blow, but general observations appear on the website Motorcyclesport.co.nz
The second event was not motorcycling, but nevertheless interesting. A schoolkids HPV (Human Powered Vehicles) contest at Maryborough in the Midlands of Victoria. Age groups from 7 to 18 years were catered for by having categories suiting the various ages. As a school project, contestants had to design, build, present to the RAC of Victoria scrutineers for eligibility & safety, their HPV, followed by \"trial events\" (we could call them races) which lasted from 2 to 24 hours. This meant a great deal of teamwork from go to woe, and as some 2,000 schoolchildren participated with some 5,000 \"hangers on\", family, school supporters, etc. the 8,500 population of the rural town of Maryborough doubled with the \"canvas city\".
Never let it be said that these young Australians are not very competitive, and no wonder we see their prowess later in life in sport, including motorcycling & motor racing. This is an excellent training ground.
Some notable events coming in the New Year will include the first time running at Cooks Gardens, Wanganui of the Suzuki Supercross on January 11th, then the enormous by any standards, Blue Wing Honda New Zealand Moto Cross Grand Prix at Woodville from January 24 to 26th.
Where we can obtain by e-mail pre publicity, race results & reports, we will put them on our website: Motorcyclesport.co.nz: So keep on looking at us.
Yes, motorcycle sport is doing well & plenty to look forward to for everyone.
Our very best wishes to you all.
Joan & Tim Gibbes
