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"If you scroll down the page you can check out the full series"
Bike Rider Magazine Summer Race Series In conjunction with The Pacific Motorcycle Club 2010 Round Four (Finale) 11th of April
First of all I would like to say thank you to the Pacific Motorcycle Club for putting on such a great race series, and to everyone involved. They worked very hard to make it fun and to run smoothly throughout the year! Secondly a big thank you goes to Heidi (my wife) for being so supportive and playing pit crew at every race meeting, even though she does not watch the racing but comes to help and support me! Last but not least, the sponsors, Dunlop, Maxima Oils and Waihi Tattoo Studio. Without your input and support racing would not be possible!
Its fair to say that Brendan's last meeting of the season was a shocker. With an off, a near highside, a coming together with another rider and a 10 second penalty it was one that he would rather forget. But he still managed to finish a credible 5th place in the points for the season in the Pro Twin Open class, after only coming into it half way through the series. Well done Bro, bring on next season! On the other hand my luck had turned around towards the second half of the season after some misfortune earlier on.(can be seen below on this page) Having raced in both the Pro Twin Open and F1 Superbike classes this year it was a good learning experience. I am more than happy with the end of season results in both classes. In the last three rounds in the Pro Twin Open class I set three pole positions and six straight wins, so going by the points I knew I had the trophy in this class. As for the SBK, I went into the last round in 5th position, so the big surprise at prize giving was that I managed to finish 3rd in the series after the day was over. The trophies look really good on the book shelf in between my Aprilia models.
Bike Rider Magazine Summer Race Series In conjunction with The Pacific Motorcycle Club 2010 Round Three Round Three was held at the Taupo Motorsport Park on Sunday the 14th of March. The day went quite well considering I hadn't been on the bike or race track for six weeks. I couldn't attend practice day on Saturday due to work commitments, so felt rather rusty on the bike and track. Its not so easy for me to get up to speed and ride smoothly when that happens , so was nowhere near my best lap times during qualifiying. I found qualifiying and racing more physical at this round with my two classes - F1 (Superbikes) & Pro Twins Open - running back to back. It was hard but also had advantages... coming out of the Superbikes and then straight into the Pro Twin Open meant the bike, the tyres and the rider were well warmed! I quallified 10th in the Superbikes and had a couple of hard races to finish 10th in both races. Gaining Pole Position for the Pro Twin Open and finishing 1st in both of these races was great, but I must say the battle at the restart of race one gave me a wake up call. My brother Brendan also had a very good race meeting on his Aprilia RSVR (#177). He competed in the Pro Twin Open and finished 3th in the first race, and 2nd in race two. Well done Bro! Going by his lap times I can't help but think that the last round (April 11) is going to be a Holland battle to the end, all going well! Another note of interest is that Brendan's son Taylor raced at this meeting and the three of us were all on the track racing at the same time. Bring on Round Four...The Grand Finale.
From left to right - Brendan, Deane and Taylor.
Bike Rider Magazine Summer Race Series In conjunction with The Pacific Motorcycle Club 2010 Round Two Round Two of the series held at Manfeild on the 31st of January was certainly one to remember! Practice day was Saturday, and Sunday was race day. It was the first time on this circuit for me, and a sunny and exceptionally hot practice day made it ideal for learning the track. As I was circulating I was thinking how much I liked this track. My confidence built throughout the day and I got a little keen on the throttle while still fully cranked over out of the infield hairpin. The result was the rear tyre letting go and down I went (another first for me). Fortunately the damage to the bike was minimal and I only sustained a couple of light bruises... so all was well for competing the next day. Sunday was a completely different story. The weather was the complete opposite to practice day - yes it was raining. I was well pleased that I'd purchased a set of wet weather tyres earlier that week! There are so many firsts for me this season, having never been on race wets or raced in the wet. My classes this weekend were F1 Superbikes and the Pro Twin Open. With some good advice and a lot of help I had faith that the tyres were up to the job of going hard, but there were still so many decisions to make on the day with the track alternating between wet and dry. The main one being choice of tyres. We started with slicks on the bike and then made a switch to wets at the last minute giving me only 3 laps to qualify for the Superbikes. 15th position was where I started in both Superbike races. After that was qualifying for the Pro Twins. I felt really good on the wets and gave it the best shot I could to get a decent grid position. I couldn't have hoped for a better result than pole position. This gave me a boost in confidence and incentive to do well in both races. The first Superbike race saw a pretty dry track, so the choice was to go out on slicks. I didn't feel that comfortable and took to the gravel trap once but didn't loose position finishing 8th. Race one of the Pro Twin Open was on a wet track which stayed that way for the rest of the day, making race wets the final decision. Both Pro Twin races were a great experience. I got good starts and managed to lead from start to finish, crossing the line with a decent margin. Two 1st places felt amazing after my previous meetings. Race two of the Superbikes was also exciting as I got another good start and managed to get into 3rd position very quickly. I was hoping to be in for a podium finish and wondered when the hell the last lap flag would come out! Unfortunatley a rider got by with two laps to go. I got very close but not close enough to make a move and finished 4th by 0.5 of a second. It was an amazing weeked and a real boost in confidence heading into the last two rounds. I'd like to thank everyone that ran around helping to get me out there. My wife Heidi as usual, my brother Brendan who was unable to race his Aprilia due to not having race wets, and his mate Ian. Also Peter for his advice and getting his hands dirty while working on my bike. Things would not have run so smoothly without you guys!
Bike Rider Magazine Summer Race Series In conjunction with The Pacific Motorcycle Club 2009 Round One Round one of the Pacific Motorcycle Club's Summer Series could not have been a better day weather-wise. It was truely the first of the warm summer days at Taupo Motorsport Park. Being my first competitive race for the season I was really hoping to get out and qualify well to give me the best start possible for the first race, because I knew the F1 class would be hard. As everyone that races knows, anything is likely to happen and does happen. A word of warning, DO NOT use valve caps that have an O-ring in the top of them! After checking my tyre pressure (rear, thank goodness) and replacing the valve cap before heading out to qualify things got a bit nasty. Unknown to me, the O-ring had fallen out of the top of the cap and wedged itself on top of the valve. After screwing the cap back on and then heading onto the track, the bike did not feel good at all. The cap had pushed the O-ring down and forced the valve open, releasing all the air from the tyre while I was running around the track for qualifying. It took a little time to realise what had happend after coming into the pits early. This blew any chance to qualify well. Oh well as they say "That's racing" Soooo - 25th on the grid (which is where you start for both races on the day) was more than a little disappointing to say the least, any hopes of being in the top10 felt like an impossible task. I got off the line well and by five or six corners I had managed to be in a good position. The bike was running extremely well with a good set up, and the tyres were working at their best. I had some very close and exciting racing. Although not finishing with a top10 result I was happy with an 11th and 12th from the two races considering where I started from. I was also happy with my fastest lap time of 1.13.638. Thanks to the Pacific Motorcycle Club for a well organsed and great event. The next round (two) is at Manfeild on the 31st of January, a track that I have never been on. It'll be something new again for me. I'm looking forward to it and hope for some better results... time will tell. I think I'd better get the Taupo Spectacular out of the way on the 28th of December at the Taupo Motorsport Park before I get too excited about the Manfeild round!
Photo by - Dallas Alexander. fotocdnz@hotmail.com
Taupo Road Race Spectacular 2009 December the 27th and 28th saw the running of the Taupo Road race Spectacular for 2009. The 27th was practice day for the spectacular with the B.A.D.D 3 hour endurance race held later on that afternoon. The weather wasn't too bad for the practice day and endurance race. It was overcast but I was still able to get sunburnt. The Endurance race kicked off at 2pm and was a Le Mans type race start. The riders stand on the opposite side of the track to their bikes, run to them and then make as fast a get-away as possible. The weather held out and the race went well with riders and teams working hard throughout the 3 hour event. When the flag dropped to signal the end of the race there was one winner, yes one. Most other teams consisted of two or three riders. The winner was Sloan Frost and he was riding alone, commonly called 'Superman style'. This is an amazing feat to say the least as the amount of strength, stamina and concentration required to reel off consistent low lap times is enormous.
Photo By - Evan Holland
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