Round 3 Race Report
Race day: November 20, 2022
The weather forecasters were on the money as it turned out. Dry start followed by showers, and thunder storms. All of these conditions in an hour also.
Practice/Qualy for Ninja Cup:
The Good. We got 3 dry laps.
The Interesting. Chris Smith debuts a SS300 spec Ninja 400 as a test.
The bad. It rained on half the track.
The extra bad. Justin “no Seat” high sides out of turn 6. Breaks his collarbone.
The Results. Alex “Butman” Butson, Justin”no seat” Reid, Matt Hobbs and Andrew Boldero make up the front row.
Practice/Qualy for Hyosung Cup:
The Good. 31 Hyosungs take to the track.
The Bad. Its very wet.
The Results. Lozza May, Oli Pykett, Esmond Williams and Tyler King make up the front row.
Blair, Bill’s and Alex Ready to Rock.
Co-riders practice:
The Good. Its dry.
The Not Surprising. Andrew Stroud is still very fast. Cam Leslie is still very fast.
The Surprising. Zak Fuller sets his P2 time on Bridgestone S22’s. He’s very fast also.
The Very Cool. 8 ex Cup racers are back as Co riders.
Ninja Cup Race 1.
The very Good. Its dry!
The Interesting. Not much overall between the SS300 spec Ninja of Chris and the Cup spec of Alex’s.
The Celebration. Alex wins from Tyler, Blair and a very tough Justin (yes, broken Justin).
The Great Ride. Billee comes through from P11 to P5.
The Bad. Matt Hobbs ends up in the weeds, rider ok.
Hyosung Cup Race 1.
The Totally Amazing. Jesse smashes a very old lap record twice on a X4R. Leaves 1:21.192 on the table. WOW!
The Ridiculous. Jesse wins by 15.5 seconds!
The Exciting. 0.5 seconds covers next 4 riders.
The Girls. Kendal comes home 8th, Megan 13th, Tam 16th, Catherine 23rd, Becki 25th.
The New. First time ever on a race track Marcus Robinson finishes his first ever race.
Lets Race! Snap thanks to Philip Kaverman.
Ninja Cup Race 2.
The Not Too Bad. The track is dampish.
The Bad. Chris, Tyler and Jason Visser find the weeds. All unhurt.
The Sad. Justin “no seat, broken collarbone “ Reid calls it a day.
The Great Ride (again). Billee comes through to P2
The Celebrations. Alex, Billee, and Bryan Kidd make up the podium.
The Congratulations. Bryan Kidd. First ever Cup podium.
Hyosung Cup Race 2.
The Bad. Its very wet.
The Super Impressive. Nick “pulled it” Trigger leads for most of the race to finish 2nd by 0.249
The Well Deserved. In his 6th Cup season Esmond Williams wins his first Cup race.
The Best Battle. The Stroud boys. 0.086 between them. Jesse kicks Jacobs butt. ☺
The Girls. Tam is on fire and goes P9. Catherine is flying to P13, Kendal goes safe to P19, Becki is cautious and goes P24. Megs is in the weeds, unhurt.
The bad. We lose Lozza, Megs, Shaun parker and Tyler to the Gravel Gods. All ok.
The Celebration. Esmond, Nick and Oli Pykett make up the podium.
The Ninja Cup Split Grid Start. Snap by Philip Kaverman.
The Kiwibike Insurance 1 Hour.
The Disappointment. The race doesn’t start until 4:15pm. We are under pressure.
The Bad. Its wet.
The Very Bad. Zak gets away well from P11 only to lose the back on the white paint at the start finish. He’s in the weeds but unhurt.
The Impressive. Andrew “Stroudy” Stroud is in command and settles in for a fast, wet stint.
The Drama. Zak swaps to Billee’s bike for 3 laps while we fix the MTF bike. Then pits to swap back to get on S22’s.
The Steady. Hamish and Alex just ping off fast laps. Super consistent.
The Chase of the Race. Zak is in a class of his own trying to pull back 2 laps. Slots in a 1:30.312 an astounding 2.3 seconds faster than the next fastest lap.
The Ironman. Ex SAS Soldier Matt Hobbs just circulates well and is solid.
The Bad. Tyler is in the weeds. Unhurt. This young guy is very fast for his short time road racing and is always learning.
The Amazing. Jesse wins the Hyosung class as an ironman by 1 lap. Laps 2 seconds faster than next best.
The Close. Oli beats home Esmond by just 3 seconds for 2nd Hyosung.
The Hyosung Girls. Kendal with Cam Leslie come home 7th, Tam and Nathan Jane 9th, Megan and Ben Mayo 12th, Catherine with Paiva 13th, Becki and Marcus Robinson 17th, Heidi with Troy, DNF.
The Ninja Celebration. Nathan Finlay/Andrew Stroud, Alex Butson/Hamish Fox, Matt Hobbs for the podium.
The Hyosung Podium. Jesse Stroud, Oli Pykett, Esmond Williams. Yes all Ironmen!
The End. Our 1 Hour is cut short to 44 minutes as all bikes must be off the track at 5pm.
The Shame. No time for prize giving and social get together as extremely unfriendly Hampton Downs employee demands pack up and leave by 5:30.
Laurel May and Dylan Honan at the pit stop. Snap by Philip Kaverman.
Jesse and Jacob Splashing very quickly together. Snap by Philip Kaverman.
Round Winners:
WIL Sport Women’s Cup – 1st Kendal Dunlop, 2nd Tam Hickey, 3rd Catherine Wood
Carl Cox Motorsport Hyosung Cup – 1st Jesse Stroud, 2nd Esmond Williams, 3rd Oliver Pykett
Carl Cox Motorsport Hyosung Cup Fastest Lap – Jesse Stroud – Lap record 1:21.192
Carl Cox Motorsport Ninja Cup – 1st Alex Butson, 2nd Billee Fuller, 3rd Blair Skelton
Carl Cox Motorsport Ninja Cup Fastest Lap – Alex Butson 1:17.694
Videographer of the day. Cliff Field of TT Kiwis
Best Attitude of the Day: That of every Cup Racer. Thanks for your support!
Quote of the day. “Just pack up and leave”. Hampton Downs employee.
Special Mention: Two Cup Sponsors competing. Chris Smith and Rodney O’Connor.
Special thanks to all the Club volunteers who ran the day and were out in that terrible weather for so long flagging and keeping the racers safe as possible.
Massive thanks also to our Special 1 Hour Sponsor Kiwibike Insurance and all the company’s below who support us so well.