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Last Sunday saw the final round of the Tauranga Motorcycle Club’s very successful Autumn Series.
As usual, the Rowe Road tracks in Ohauiti provided exciting racing in all classes but the day belonged to the mini motocross riders. With riders from major clubs in the Waikato also present, the competition was hot.
Over 40 children aged between 5 and 12 competed right to the line for trophy honours, delighting the many parents, grandparents and other spectators who were urging them on.
6 year old Aaron Wiltshire, found a Suzuki JR50 in his Christmas stocking, rode his first race in March and then won 5 in a row against strong opposition from Alex Blackburn to take out first prize overall in the Japanese 50cc class.
With good jumps and controlled riding into the berms, Dylan Yearbury from Cambridge on a KTM 50 demonstrated once again that he is the best in the European 50cc category with Hadleigh Knight from Putaruru close behind.
Another Putaruru Knight in dazzling form was Nikita. On her Suzuki JR80 she dominated the 80cc Trail Bike class. However her absence from the first round meant that in spite of 7 straight wins, she was unable to top Sam Shergold’s 167 points total nor topple Tauranga’s Jason Pole from his first place overall for licensed riders.
The 60cc motocross riders in particular have shown great improvement on the track. With all riders starting equal on Kawasaki KX60s, the development of riding skills has been important. Jarrod Gibbons won all 3 rounds but was closely pushed by the increasingly confident Jarrod Saville, Amber Royal and Camerin Shugg, all from Tauranga.
A talented group of 65cc riders form the top class in the minis. Racing is fast and exciting. Logan Blackburn from Mangakino on a KX65, won through with the points for the day and the points for the series, in spite of an off. He was kept on his toes by Tauranga riders Brody Burkhart and Mark Goldstone and Ryan Knight from Putaruru.
Emma Goldstone, who placed 5th in the NZ Champs last year, faced hardier competition in this 3rd round for the 4 wheelers but still maintained a perfect record on her Polaris Scrambler 90 quad machine. Kathryn Gunter led the 50cc quads on a Suzuki LT50.
The race of the day on the mini track however was the Father’s Race where every dad was a winner and rumour has it that Willy Hohoia raced faster on his son’s bike than he did on his own on the big track.
Minis coordinator and track designer, Warren Goldstone, has been amazed at the great improvement in the standard of riding as the series has progressed and is already enthusiastically planning a 5 round Winter Series starting in early July.
There was fun and action on the main track too. Paul Campbell and Scott Barr-Smith took out the honours and continued their domination of the 125cc and 85cc Junior classes in spite of strong challenges from Andrew and Russell Dunstan, Jason Ponder and James Hamlett. Competition was equally fierce further down the field between, in particular, Sam Fenton, Anthony Gunter and Cohen Burkhart.
Graham Palmer on a KTM 250 took away the trophy for the 250cc series by 2 points over friend and rival Carl Williams. It was a costly failed corner in race2 for Carl.
Andrew Rolley put to advantage his well executed starts to convincingly win the first two races. James Heke came through in Race 3 to take the race and the 125cc trophy for the series.
The Autumn Series is the first motocross competition the club has organized for some years and motocross coordinator Bill McLeod has been encouraged by the response.
Riders can look forward next month to the start of the winter season of the always popular Maize Paddock Days.
