Round 4 Race Report

Race day: Nov 19, 2023

ROUND 4 – NATIONAL CIRCUIT

Here we go again! That was my thought when checking the weather forecast constantly for 10 days leading up to our much anticipated 1 Hour race event. Last year we were rained out and timed out. Well things were looking much the same yesterday. However, good pre-event planning to run only 1 Cup Sprint race for each class, thus freeing up time in the schedule and a fantastic effort by Chris Costello, Trevor Heaphy, Jane Percival, Jim Tuckerman and the entire AMCC crew during one of the most challenging days racing meant no races were dropped and we got to run our Kiwibike Insurance 1 Hour to the end! The Hampton Downs Team were also very accommodating, friendly, and patient as we battled all weather conditions to get through our day.

Quali

It was very wet for qualifying and an extra big challenge for the Hyosung’s who at best could run the Bridgestone S22’s, a great road tyre for wet conditions but not a full race wet. Conditions like this make things very interesting though, who is confident to find the limits and stay on board are those who generally rise to the top. Our long Cup history has seen a few wet weather specialists who can do this. One of those riders is Esmond Williams aboard his Kiwibike Insurance GT250R. Always quick and in the wet goes to another level. Esmond set himself up on pole followed by the experienced Scotty Findlay and new Cup racer James Murdie. Troy Fowles also from the Naki goes P4 and then a couple of young guns, Cadel Finlay and Joe Stroud go P5 and 6. The second row is rounded out by Shaun Parker and Too Tall Trent McDiarmid who doesn’t shy away from a bit of moisture on the track.

The Ninja Cup bikes qualify with the 650’s in the Intermediate class. With the Ninjas on full Bridgestone race wets they can certainly tackle the conditions as these tyres are just amazing! This was unknown territory as this is the first season any Cup bikes have been able to use these, so who would gain the most from trusting these tyres? It was Billee and Tyler who got straight down to business. Billee put her MTF Finance Wairau Valley Ninja 400 on pole with a 1:24.039 with Tyler King very close behind. Both these riders banked lap times faster than all the 650’s! Both on stock suspension. P3 went to Sean White and Tim Gray rounded out the front row. Michael Robinson went P5 and a great effort by Alex le Comte and a hard charging Megan Kemp for P6 and 7. Nathan Finlay on the Connect Homes Ninja 400 rounded out row 2. 6 of the fastest 8 times in this mixed qualifying were Ninja Cup bikes.

Race 1

Race 1 for the Hyosungs was very moist. Esmond got straight into his work and led every lap as Oli Pykett had to start from the back of the grid. Oli powered through the pack to second with James Murdie sitting in 3rd place when the red flag came out for Chris Nobbs and Rico Belcourt who found the weeds. Fortunately, with no injury’s. With a 3 lap race re start it was kicking off at the front as we now restart with a grid formed up from the positions in the race that was red flagged. This meant Oli was P2 on the grid. It was EW who crossed the stripe just 0.4 ahead of Oli setting the fastest lap on the way. James Murdie was solid 3rd and a great battle between Cadel Finlay and Troy Fowles gave one of our youngest racers P4 by 0.3.

The Ninja Cup sprint race was also wet. Billee got away well but Tyler grabbed the lad on lap one. Bill’s was never far behind and these two put on a masterful display of wet weather riding. Tyler posting the fastest lap of 1:22.690. Only 0.3 separated them across the line. Michael Robinson learnt quickly how much grip the Bridgestone W01 series tyres have coming in a great 3rd just 1.5 ahead of his 1 Hour Team mate Tim Gray. A fantastic 5th from Megan Kemp had the entire Ninja Cup camp really happy for her. This young women has such a great attitude, competitive, wants to learn and doesn’t give up. So good to see. The Battle of the Andrews was won by AB over AA this time by 4 seconds but later in the day they would of course Team up for the Kiwibike Insurance 1 Hour. Interesting to note after a 20 second start delay between the 650’s and the Ninja Cup bikes Tyler and Billee came through for 4th and 5th outright.

1 Hour Race

So after the co riders had some laps behind the Intermediates we were into the 1 Hour race at around 4:15pm and really hoping we could get through this without a red flag as track time was limited. And we did! What a race. Super supported by Dave Hewer of Kiwibike Insurance with $1,000 cash prize money we had 24 bikes lined up for the Le Mans start. Most with a 2 rider team for a bonus 20 Cup points but 8 doing the solo thing. Ninja pole was occupied by the sister/brother Team of Billee and Zak Fuller. No introduction required as we all know Zaks pedigree as a very talented racer who has stood on BSB podiums and is also 2020 solo winner of the Ninja Cup 1 Hour at Taupo. The combination of young gun Tyler King and a 9 time NZ Superbike Champion in Andrew Stroud looked pretty formidable also from P2. Another strong combo of Sean White and a returning Hyosung Champion Alex Buttman Butson, a very fast wet weather rider lined up P3. Lots of great teams throughout both classes encompassing returning Cup Champions Chris Smith, Alex Butson, Kendal Dunlop and Cam Leslie. Young Teams like Alex Le Comte and Jayme Martin on their Ninjas and Joe Stroud and dad Andrew on Joes X4R. Father and son Troy and Riley Fowles and a welcome return to Cup racing from Hayden Fordyce riding with Megan Kemp. Then we had some serious solo’s like Esmond “no mates” Williams and Oli who had Scotty Findlay lined up but withdrew after some pre race bike troubles. Shaun parker and Elijah Daken also went alone as did Robert Mayo, Tim Wigram and Too tall Trent, all on the GT250R’s.

The Buttman got the Holeshot but was hauled in by Tyler and Zak on lap one and form there it was all on in the Ninjas. Tyler took over at the front from Zak on lap 4 and set a very fast pace until lap 11 when Zak got his eye in and pulled the pin. Tyler went with Zak but just ran a little wide and tipped off his Ninja on lap 14 after posting a 1:22.002 in full wet conditions. From that point on Zak stretched his lead over Alex and the chasing pack. At the 35 minute mark Zak pitted to hand over to Bill’s with a huge lead, so much they were still in front when Billee returned to the track. Bill’s did everything right and managed changing conditions on full wets like a seasoned endurance racer. Still punching out 1:21’s 56 minutes into the race with a virtually dry line. The action was behind for 2nd with a hard charging Michael Robinson taking that place off Sean White on lap 34 and also unlapping his team from Billee and Zak. Mike also posted the fastest lap in the process of 1:20.224 on lap 35 as the dry line was appearing. A solid race from young Team mates Alex Le Comte and Jayme Martin for 4th earnt them a good points haul each. Gravity took over for Britten Somerville unfortunately on lap 33 which ended the race for team mate Nick Trigger also. No injury and this talented young racer will be back for more! So the grand prize of winning the Kiwibike Insurance Ninja Cup 1 Hour went to Billee and Zak Fuller by a margin of 1 minute 15 seconds over Tim Gray and Mike Robinson. A superb 3rd was Sean and Alex who have both podiumed in past 1 Hour Cup races.

For the first 4 laps Esmond led the Hyosung class from Oli before Oli pulled the rip chord and did the Oli thing by clearing off, that was until a speeding penalty leaving pit lane after the compulsory stop saw him relegated to 2nd place at the flag. EW made no mistakes and rode a fast, consistent pace to take the top step. So good to see another young Stroud racer learning the craft from dad Andrew. They came home in 3rd place and Joe certainly contributed very well to that result and is growing with patience and talent as a young racer. Mike McKain hired in Hyosung Cup Champion Cam Leslie to form a strong team who came home 4th with Cam posting the fastest lap on 32 with a 1:24.537. Another father/son Team of Nathan and Cadel Finlay rode a great race to 5th on Cadel’s X4R. We lost Too tall Trent on lap 10 and Dan Franzen retired on lap 3, both with no injury.

I have to say its so good to see plenty of young talent emerging in this Cup season. They all bring energy, a great attitude and enthusiasm. They are learning and enjoying their sport which is the most important thing.

On a completely different note and on behalf of all the Cup family I want to send our best wishes to Avalon and Jake on the birth of their son Nash on November 18. Mum and babe are doing great and I think we have a contender for the 2038 Cup Championship knowing this wee mans genes.

Thank you

That’s that for Round 4. Many thanks to the Hampton Downs management to allow us some extra time for our prize giving at the end of racing. We rushed through that to eventually get the van packed at 6:45 and off home reflecting on what was another amazing day of Cup racing. Again thanks to all the volunteers and flaggy’s who braved the elements to keep things running extremely well and keep our riders safe. Thanks to those who helped with timing the compulsory 1 Hour pit stops and to Tracy for again taking the BBQ off my hands and working so hard in our pit. Was great to have Phil London join us who has supported the Cup for 13 years through WIL Sport. Finally a massive thank you to all the Cup Sponsors. Without you all the Cup wouldn’t be quite the same and our 2 winning 1 Hour Teams went home $500 richer each thanks to Kiwibike Insurance.

Good luck to all the Cup racers heading into the Nationals and have a great Christmas everyone. See you at Motofest, our last round if not before.