Remember The Castrol 6 Hour?

Posted: Tue 26 Apr 2005

Photo - Jared Love #69 will be fronting up on his Honda CBR100RR:

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TOP MOTORCYCLE BRANDS IN 300K TITLE FIGHT:

Motorcycle road racing teams and brands will pitch themselves into the unique and demanding sport of endurance racing at the newly resurfaced Pukekohe circuit on the weekend of May 7 & 8. The NZ Distributors 300k is an official national championship event where anyone of a dozen teams riding five different brands of sportsbikes could lift the title. Intensifying the competition is the resurfaced track surface at Pukekohe Park Raceway that many riders believe will lead to lap records being broken in both the Superbike and Sports Production classes.

Major manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha have all entered credible teams into the 300k event. With live television coverage on Sky Sports motorcycle distributors are keen to promote awareness of their road machines.

Television viewers and racegoers will see the latest Superbikes and 600cc sports bikes take to the grid for a traditional Le Man race start where riders sprint across the track to their machines. Local race legend Eric Bone will drop the chequered flag and send teams into action at 1.45pm Sunday May 8th.

Race organiser Vince Sharpe is a strong advocate of the long distance race format which was last run as a national title in 2001. “We are committed to ensuring endurance racing regains its stature and be recognised as an exciting and entertaining motor sport discipline and to once again become a permanent fixture on the annual motorcycle road race calendar”.

Sharpe uses the hare and the tortoise analogy to characterise the unpredictable nature of the endurance event; “ It’s a race of attrition where even the best teams, machines and riders can be eliminated by crashes, re-fuelling mistakes or backmarkers. Sometimes an unfavoured team can circulate long enough and quick enough to finish on the podium”

The entry list of machines for the 300K mirrors the current World Superbike competition with a high calibre line-up of Honda CBR100RR’s, Kawasaki ZX-10R’s, Yamaha YZF R1’s, and Suzuki GSXR1000R’s. Triumph has also confirmed the entry of two machines – two Daytona models, a 650 and a 955.

A full race card of 125 Grand Prix, Post Classic motorcycles, Endurance Qualifying shoot-outs, stunt displays and post-race entertainment will run at Pukekohe Raceway over the weekend of May 7th and 8th.

The event organised by Auckland Motorcycle Club.