AMCC Rnd 3 Race Report

The weather forecasters were right; the weather would be crap for Round 3 of the Cup. As if on cue it started just before practice got underway and the meeting declared wet. Slippery was an understatement as 33 Cup racers took to the track. Our grid was down a little as some riders had other commitments and a few decided just to stay in bed I think. Early drama came in the form of Jesse locking the front at terminal velocity entering turn 1 on lap 3. #21 Ninja 400 would have medalled at the 2020 World Gymnastics Championships. 5 end for end cart-wheels were what Jesse got to see as he skated on his butt at 180kph. The good news of that was Jesse was ok, although rather shaken. Bad news is the bike managed to land on both sides and both ends rendering it seriously injured.

The Ninja class pole belonged to one man and that was Chris Smith on the PassMasters Ninja 400, totally in control and posting a 1:34.873 on road tyres. Jesse’s time posted before his moment gave him grid 2 followed by Paiva, Matt Hobbs, Dave Readings and Sean White.

Alex “Buttman” Butson prays for this kind of weather and the stars aligned for him thats for sure. Quickly into his work he put in the pole time on his first flying lap, Lol (no one does that in those conditions, right?) Next to Alex would be Lozza May, then Benny and Cameron Leslie rounding out the front row. It was good to have Turiana back for this round and she lead the way for the GO GIRLS with a 8th spot and then Amber 14th and Kendal 15th.

**Scotty Findlay (77) wondering if he should have stayed in bed.**

Race 1 was restarted after Kendal and Blair crashed together at turn 5. Both riders ok but very lucky as the track was busy at the time. The Ninja race was a master class of rain riding by Chris who won by a massive 28 seconds from Dave Readings and Matt Hobbs who had a great battle for their best ever finishes. Jesse was very cautious coming home in 4th and Paiva 5th. Sean White elected not to start as he did not want to risk aggravating an injury he was carrying.

The Buttman wasn’t interested in any racing, he wanted to get back to his easy up as quickly as possible and so set about spanking the Hyosung field with a 5.5 second win and even more impressive crossed the finish line 2nd overall! Lozza May was a lonely 2nd with Cameron Leslie and Scotty Findlay having a tussle for 3rd. Benny Cook, Colin Box, Hadleigh Thomson, Cup newcomer Simon Beard, Shane Bailey and Phil Oades (on the Ex Avalon X4R) rounded out the top ten. We had 5 non starters and 3 DNF’s in the restart. Unfortunately Turiana’s engine developed a noise it shouldn’t which sidelined her for the day.

**Great to have Rodney O’Connor up and bringing samples of the awesome X-Lite helmet range.**

Race 2 was a rerun for our 2 winners. Totally dominant were Chris and Alex and at home splashing about on road tyres in atrocious conditions. Jesse found some confidence and came home second after getting by Paiva, our Brazilian Champion. Dave followed Paiva home and Matt jumped off into turn 2, rider ok.

There were a few battles going on in the Hyosung Cup with Cameron and Lozza scrapping for 2nd, Scotty Findlay and Colin “no seat” Box for 4th and Simon Beard and Hads Thomson for 7th. Another good showing by Phil Oades pipping Amber in the X4R battle for 10th. We lost Kendal into turn 1 early on, rider ok. That girl has got guts and a great attitude, she will be back!

A sudden change in the sky’s saw a dry track and sunshine for our Le Mans start race. Just what we all needed. Chris shot away to an early lead on his Ninja to be reeled in by Jesse on the MTF Finance #1 bike on lap 2. Jesse went onto win by 11 seconds with Dave bringing home his Ninja with a nice 3rd and Matt back into it with a 4th from Paiva.

It was Cameron who took advantage of the dry track on his GT250R winning by 1.1 from Lozza, Birthday Boy Benny a fine 3rd and Alex showing he can also ride a dry track 4th. A great ride by “Pieke Butler” for 5th then Hads, Scotty battling our Fast Farmer Colin Box for 7th and Shane Bailey a top 9! Amber our “lone Lady left” was an excellent 11th after. We had 8 non starters for various reasons but it was at least good to end the day with a fast, dry race.

**Chris Smith dominated in the rain and won the Ninja Cup day. Thanks for the pic Tim Erasmus.**

**Phil Oades leads Amber and Trent through turn 3. Nice pic by Tim Erasmus (13 years)**

This round sure mixed up the points and it makes for an interesting final 2 rounds next year. I want to thank all our valuable Cup sponsors for their amazing support. The volunteers on the day for a great job, especially the marshals for enduring shocking weather for most of the day and helping keep our riders safe. Big thanks to Cliff Field for risking all his cameras and recording some amazing footage for us to enjoy.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and good luck to our Cup riders competing in the Suzuki Series and Nationals. See you all at Bruce Mclaren Motorsport Park on February 5th/6th for Round 4 and the 1 Hour.

AMCC Rnd 3 Points

AMCC Rnd 2 Points

Official Sponsors

Carl Cox Motorsport Cup