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Bad weather plays its part
The final round of the North island series coincided with Round 3 of the Nationals at Ranfurley’s property south of Martinborough on Saturday.
The long drive took us to what looked to be an awesome venue and the club had done an exceptional job of covering all bases for this event.
The Juniors went smoothly and once again Jason Dickey (KX125) battled with Jordan Wilson. Both rode consistently well and finished as the rain started to fall with Jason taking 2nd overall and 1st in class for the north Islands.
The seniors lined up as the cold southerly rain started to settle in for the day, the mass start saw many different faces up top but no surprise was a little 125 in front with Adrian Smith at the helm. Adrian never looked back and was the only rider to master the track and achieve 6 laps.
The 30km track changed on each lap as the rain fell on the extremely hard ground making the surface similar to riding on wet steel.
The riders where drenched and cold and the average speed dropped as all struggled with the conditions , places changed as the riders tested both their resilience and skill to persevere to the end with some form of result.
Many bikes expired under the demanding track conditions and it became a lottery lap by lap as all made various line choices to circulate and survive.
A track change in the final laps created some major changes in some rider’s placings and while it was possibly the only way of getting some back it really made some major alterations to the fortunes of some and misfortunes for others.
From our teams perspective the boys fell short on luck and while they worked together to get a result it was not to be their day. A saturated pit crew did all they could to keep spirits up and while cleaning up and debriefing at days end the whole team raced against time to get to prize giving at Jacks Bar Martinborough only to find it was all over. “Just one of those days”
Individually Young Cam Downing (KX125) put in a very solid ride again coming out with a 2nd in class and now sits 2nd for the national series.
Jason Moorfield (KXF450) toughed the day out eventually posting 2nd in the vets class giving him enough to secure 1st for the North Islands.
Kevin Hermanson (KXF250) took 7th in the Vets.
Luke Ramsey (KXF250) could only muster 8th in class on the day which has seriously dented his national campaign but this secured him 2nd in class for the North Islands.
The good news was that their combined effort over the series gave the KMP Metalman Team the North Island team’s title which was some consolation for all the work behind the scenes and all the great support.
A week or two can be a long time in this type of racing and you just never now what can happen at a final , it’s just to hard to predict as fortunes can change up to the last lap.
We have a two week break to pick up the pieces, get over the disappointments and prepare for the final in Cheviot on the 15th of May.
The Metalman KMP X - C Team would like to acknowledge the support of the following Kimmy’s MX Park, Kawasaki, Mr Motorcycles Ltd, Moorfield Motors Ltd, Bruce Downing Builders, Kiwi Rider Magazine, CJS Concrete Ltd, Fly race wear, Silkolene lubricants, RK chain, Shoei helmets, Afam sprockets, Asterisk knee braces, Polisport plastics, Barkbusters, AXO boots, Renthal bars and grips, Ariete goggles, Michelin tyres and moose tubes and Ilabb graphics
