Re: Happy Holidays from summer in New Zealand
Christmas Day and the day after down here meant motorcycle racing. I mentioned in my earlier post we were celebrating 50 years of racing at the Cemetery Circuit in Wanganui. Other than the fact it rained for a few hours on race day it was a great event. Check out a few photos at
http://au.photos.yahoo.com/bikemerv and select the album December 2002 Wanganui Street Races. Being a 50 year celebration it brought out all the old riders and bikes.
However to Make KPaul happy, in the feature races the fastest guys on our streets were racing modified R1s (Tony Rees and Jason McEwan). Not a V-Twin anywhere near the front. After two R1s followed a group of GSXR1000s with one guy in amongst them on a GSXR600, the tight street circuit suiting his small bike also.
The race of legends had our former superbike star Aaron Slight return to two wheels and he raced Tony Rees R1 and easily won both of his races - you'll see him in the ride by with no helmet on number 11.
The V-twins were able to do OK in classic racing and BEARS racing. Jason McEwan also brought the Britten out for a few demo laps and that is one V-twin that won at this circuit with Jason riding it back around 94 - 95.
It was great to see a few legends of bikes out too such as H2s and Z1s and T500 Suzukis.
US riders Ron Grant and Pat Hennan raced at this circuit winning on T500s and for Hennan he later rode RG500s, this being back from 69 for Grant and 74 for Hennan who came here and won 74, 75 and 76 before his big crash at the Isle of Man. US also had success here with sidecar racers Lind and Hart who had a TZ 700 powered rig.
I was surprised to see one of our legend riders, Trevor Discombe, (who was a great kiwi racer before I was riding in the early 60s and he kept racing into the 80s), turn up racing the latest model VFR800 in the legends race and he did OK. Now I didn't think the VFR would make a race bike and Trevor must be well in his 60s now.
As for MO, where are all the old team? What happened to Blip? You haven't buried him in the back yard or anything spooky like that have you?
Cheers
Merv.