CCMS Cup Rnd 4 - Race report
I always really enjoy our round of Cup racing at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in beautiful Taupo and our Round on Feb 6 was no exception. Again we shared the day with a few track dayers but that didn’t detract from our event and meant we had stacks of track time and some flexibility of start times allowed by COC Chris Costello and Tony. Have to say special thanks to Jim Tuckerman for his last minute drive to Taupo on Saturday morning to be our steward. The Team at BMMP are very accommodating of us and we are grateful of their support and special offers.
Qualy
We had a total of 30 entries and we did miss a few regulars who we hope will be back at Motofest. After lots of track time on Friday afternoon and more official practice Saturday morning we were all set for qualy. Pole times were set by Benny Cook on the 250’s and making a first time Cup appearance Luca Durning on the MTF Finance Barrys Point Road Ninja 400 on a fast and warming track.
Race 1
Race 1 kicked off at 10:30 for 6 laps of the 3.5km track. Cameron Leslie and Benny Cook went to work battling on the Hyosung chased by Alex Buttman Butson Vaughan Maine and Lozza May. Great to have Doyle fit and fast again on his GT250R and bring it home in 6th.The girls were represented by Kendal and Amber who finished 10th and 14th. Lucan ran away with the Ninja 400 class and got within 0.5 of Zaks lap record with a scintillating 1:42.70. A still recovering Chris Smith was a solid second and new man to the 400 class the Boxman came in 3rd and looked quick on his naked bike special.
Race 2
Race 2 was a non points co riders race which was very interesting with 15 riders lining up. Cade Rae was riding with Colin Box on the Ninja 400 and won his first ever race! Second Ninja home was Andy Ansell riding with Andrew Bolero. Nick burke had a easy win on the Lozza May GT250R and Amber’s co rider Billie Fuller rode exceptionally well on the X4R for second place, her first ever ride on anything faster than a Gixxer 150! An unfortunate collision between JT (riding with Paiva) and Tim Greene(riding with Evan Hansen) brought them both down, fortunately unhurt. All registered Cup riders gained a 20 point bonus for entering a co rider for the 1 hour.
Race 3
Race 3 was another sprint points race. The first 6 Hyosungs were exactly the same order as race 1. This time though Simon Beard beat Rory Barkla for 7th and Cup virgin Ben Mayo rode very well to come home 9th. Luca again had a comfortable win on the Ninja from Chris and the Boxman. Paiva DNS due to repairing his bike after JT’s earlier tumble.
1hr Endurance
The 1 Hour is our highlight race of the season and has our famous Le Mans start. Great to have Esmond Williams back and a last minute hook up with Doyzy for the 1 Hour, plus Luke Uhrle doing the same with new Cup racer Guy Webster. Some great parings with friends, partners, husbands and wives, fathers and sons and brothers all sharing the track. Even past Cup Champion Gavin Veltmeyer coming out of retirement to ride with Benny.The 1 Hour also had 2 more Cup Chickas entered with Tam Hickey having her first ever race (Alex Buttmans partner) and Billie Fuller riding with Amber. Amber and Billie jumped on my spare Ninja after a late mechanical put the X4R out of contention. Billie went from a 13 HP Gixxer 150 to a 45 HP Ninja 400 in one day!
The racing was fantastic with Lozza and Nick out to an early lead with Cameron and Benny chasing hard and battled closely for about 25 minutes. After the rider change for Lozza Camerons momentum of a solo ride saw him grab the lead and bring it home by a comfortable 27 seconds from Lozza and Nick, Benny and Gavin, Doyzy and Esmond who rode super well to recover from a bad start. An impressive 5th also from Alex and Tam, beating Hads Thomson by 0.315 and Team Dunlop, Kendal and Matt in 7th.
Luca was in great form and took the lead on the opening lap and just clicked off lap after lap of precise lines and control lapping the entire field. Chris managed the pain well to come home second from a great ride by Matt Hobbs. Sean White chased the Boxman and Cade hard and finished only 1.6 behind at the flag for 5th. Evan was 6th from Paiva and the girls did a great job on the Ninja for 8th. Unfortunately we lost Andrew Boldero and Andy Ansell with a broken chain after 12 laps.
What an awesome couple of days and best of all the medics Pam and Craig were not required but still helped out at our 1 Hour pit stop. Thank you for all being part of this special event.
Round 4 Winners
Hyosung Cup
1 Cameron Leslie
2 Benny Cook
3 Alex Butson
Ninja Cup
1 Luca Durning
2 Chris Smith
3 Colin “Boxman” Box
Ladies
1 Kendal Dunlop
2 Amber Leigh
3 Tam Hickey
Partners
1 Alex Butson and Tam Hickey
2 Kendal and Matt Dunlop
3 Simon and Josh Beard
Co Riders
Hyosung
1 Nick Burke
2 Billie Fuller
3 Matt Dunlop
One Hour Hyosung
1 Cameron Leslie
2 Lozza May and Nick Burke
3 Benny Cook and Gavin Veltmeyer
Ninja 400
1 Luca Durning
2 Chris Smith
3 Colin Boxman Box and Cade Rae
Ninja
1 Cade Rae
2 Andy Ansell
Videographer
1 Cliff Field
2 Cliff Field
3 Cliff Field
OVERALL WINNERS
EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED, RACED AND HAD A BALL!
Thank you to all our sponsors and the volunteers that helped out.
Super good to have Barby Chef Phil London feed us and help me present the prizes.