CCMS Cup Rnd 5 - Race report

Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, March 13-14, 2021 With the cancellation of Motofest I proposed to MNZ to include the Cup as a support class at the final NZSBK Round at Taupo. When Rod Price called me a few days out from the event saying they would like to have us there it was great news but set off the scramble to get as many Cup Racers there as possible. Such short notice meant we lost 11 competitors from Motofest but still managed to rally 21 for the grid including 9 Ninja 400’s. Awesome effort by many who could have sat on the couch but chose to support the Cup.

The weather forecast 5 days out was not good but that improved each day and we could not have hoped for better over the whole 3 days as it turned out. Friday test day was useful for many to reacquaint themselves with this awesome circuit and set up their pit.

Qualy

Saturday morning was a practice followed by a separate qualifying . Jesse Stroud made no mistake about his intentions by parking the MTF Finance Barry’s Point Road Ninja 400 firmly on pole with a very quick 1:42.495, the second fastest lap for a Ninja 400. A superb lap by Sean White pipped Chris Smith for second with the Boxman 4th followed by Paiva, Billee Fuller on the second MTF Finance Ninja, Evan Hansen and Andrew Boldero. Matt Hobbs couldn’t arrive until Sunday so would go from grid 9.

Cameron Leslie was equally emphatic about his lap of 1:51.586 for pole, just outside Jesse’s lap record. A hard charging Vaughan Maine grabbed spot 2 with Benny Cook and Simon Beard rounding out the front row. Ladies Kendal, Amber, and Tamsyn were 6,8 and 11 respectively.

Race 1

Race 1 on Saturday got underway at 16:47 so a fair amount of time went by before the fires were lit in the Cup bikes after qualy. The Hyosung race was a cracker with Cameron, Vaughan and Benny not giving an inch and all riding so well. These 3 put a large gap on the field but only 0.6 covered them at the flag and finishing in that order. A great battle of 3 talented riders. Simon Beard brought his GT250R home in a best ever 4th place after fending off newcomer Ben Mayo. Our “First Lady” was Kendal in a excellent 6th from Doyle, Tamsyn and Richard Cochran. Unfortunately Amber DNF’d with a electrical fault on her X4R.

The Ninja show was presented by 8 x 400’s led by Jesse and Chris who posted the fastest lap in his efforts to close down Jesse followed by Paiva and Sean with paiva breaking into the 1:45’s as a PB. Billee Fuller was making an appearance on the second MTF Finance Barrys Point Road Ninja and was settling in nicely with a 5th place and a best of 1:46.148, 3 seconds under her best 1 Hour time. Evan and Andrew Boldero took home 6th and 7th and we lost the Boxman on lap 5 due to gravity taking over control of his Ninja 400. Colin was unhurt.

Race 2

Sunday dawned a bit chilly but nice blue skys and things would heat up thats for sure. We had a 3 lap scrub in the morning followed by our Le Mans start race at 10:10 on a cold track. Caution would be required even after our 2 warm up laps. Jesse didn’t want to race with anyone and cleared off to a huge win of 22 seconds and a storming best lap of 1:42.524 on his Ninja 400. Chris was feeling the pain of his shoulder injury and brought the Passmasters Ninja 400 home in a safe second. Ride of the race though was Billee on the MTF Finance BPR Ninja 400. She got away well even though she had to take more steps than anyone in the running race to the bike. Her super smooth style saw her stretch away from the Boxman and after some fighting with Paiva, Billee came home 3rd by 0.2 from Paiva, the Boxman, Sean (who put in a PB and great lap of 1:45.371), Evan, Matt Hobbs and Andrew.

The perfect start was made by Benny Cook on his GT250R. He right away settled into stringing some fast laps together to break the rest of the 250’s. In the process he smashed through Jesse’s lap record with a 1:51.473! This win was a great display of controlled mistake free racing and the winning margin? 14.172 seconds! Vaughan Maine came home second from a great podium by Simon Beard. Cameron Leslie was 4th from Ben Mayo and Kendal in 6th. Trent and Tamsyn were 7th and 8th.

Race 3

It was 4:35pm before our last race of Season 10 of the Cup. A long day. Again Jesse went hard from lights out and put 20 seconds on 2nd placed Chris who was managing the pain still. Jesse posted his fastest lap of the weekend on lap 8 with a 1:42.299. Chris’s lap 2 at 1:43.693 was a PB as was Seans of 1:45.099 for a superb 3rd place, our third different rider on that spot for the round. Paiva and the Boxman had a great battle for 4th with the Rooster taking that by 0.2. Billee didn’t get away well and chased hard for a 6th place but a great lap of 1:46.014 on the way. Matt beat home Evan and Andrew for 7th with Evan knocking on the door of 1:49’s.

With Benny Cook leaving for home early he generously loaned his bike to Amber after her electrical woes continued. Cameron had the Hyosung Cup in the bag and but went out to win anyway, and win he did by 22 seconds over Vaughan and another great 3rd place by Simon Beard. Kendal also gave her bike to Turiana as backing up after the sidecar race was a bridge too far at the end of the weekend. Tee came home 4th from Amber, Trent and Tamsyn. Ben Mayo had a off on the last lap but unhurt. Doyles miserable weekend continued with a DNF but his character keeps him smiling. Billee

Thats a wrap of our seasons last round. Many storys behind this brief summary and TBH a strange feeling for me. In the last ten years I have spent 50 weekends Cup racing, watched some of the best motorcycle racing anywhere, met some amazing people, had the support of fantastic sponsors, made some great friends, had massive highs of riders achieving PB’s and getting their first podiums or going onto win National titles and a few lows of Cup racers getting injured. We have paid over $100,000 in prizes and had well over 300 riders compete.

The best thing about our Cup is the people involved. Racers and support crew all make it what it is, a friendly and competitive class that offers the opportunity for all to get racing without pressure or a great financial backer.

Thank you to all who contribute.

A massive thank you to all our sponsors. Your support is so valuable and deeply appreciated, especially during some tough times. At some stage in the future an announcement will be made on the future of the Cup. There are many who are waiting for next season to begin already so let’s see if we can make season 11 happen.