2021 Jan - Dec MX
Please scroll down for earlier 2021 race reports!
Te Awamutu MCC Round 4
13 June 2021
After moving to Hamilton Vinny was looking forward to racing Natural Terrain with the Te Awamutu MCC. As we have missed the 3 first rounds we are only participating for the enjoyment of racing (even if Vinny is now a club member and he gets points for his racing).
This round was held just outside Te Awamutu on a field with tall grass ready for the cows to eat. This blew us away, as any farmer in Hawke's Bay would have killed for a field like this! (And definetely not used it for MX riding!)
It was mainly a flat-track with some minor ups-and-downs to make it more interesting. The start was a short straight with an off-camber right turn that caught many riders out. We watched the starts of the other classes and Vinny was determined not to crash in the 90 degree corner! Sadly that did not work out too well...
Practice went well and Vinny felt confident re his chances in MX2.
In Race 1 about 30 MX1 and MX2 riders lined up. Vinny had an OK start and was approx 8'th at the holeshot, but with the sharp turn working to his advantage, he came out in 4'th (2'nd in MX2). He was then passed by a couple riders and at the end of Lap 1 he was in 4'th in MX2 on his 150sx. With a short track and so many riders it was tricky to keep track on who was being lapped and who was genuinely in the hunt. (There was also riders in the mix who were not club members and so would not count in the results...). In the end Vinny officially placed 5'th in MX2. Not bad for his first race in a couple of months!
In Race 2 Vinny comes out in 5'th (3'rd in MX2). On Lap 2 he is hit from behind by a non'member rider and he gets going in last. Anger and frustration is now what fuels his riding and he climbs up to a 6'th in MX2!
Race 3 and Vinny makes same mistake as many others on the day... he gets the holeshot corner wrong, while in 2'nd, and drops the bike taking many others with him! At end of Lap 1 he is in 19'th in the whole field. Som good riding gets Vinny a 6'th in his MX2 class at end of the race.
Vinny places 7'th on the day in MX2. Perhaps not what we came for, so here is hoping that next meeting goes a fraction better!
Race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93l7HSuOXWw
Race 2 and 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bGZ5N0EUNg
Central HB MCC MX Round 1
18 April 2021
We had spent some time sorting the issues from the NZTT and the 150SX was now all go. The racing was at the Renall farm in Central HB, almost 2 hours drive for us. This was same place and track we raced on in March, but this time the racing was done in opposite direction. And that was a good idea as the flow was much better!
The club had now decided to score all 3 rounds on the day (earlier only points in Race 3). This made all 3 races important if you wanted a chance to get on the podium at the end of the season prize giving
The MX1 and MX2 had a split start with MX1 starting first. In Race 1 13 MX2 riders lined up. Vinnys start was average and he found himself in 7'th after the holeshot corner. Daniel Stoddard took the lead, but sadly his bike developed a problem and he did not finish the race, or race again on the day. Vinny climbed up slowly and ended the race in 4'th. He had issues with the bike and complained about the motor bogging down. We did some changes for Race 2.
In Race 2 Vinny had a similar start and again found himself in 7'th. By the end of lap 1 he was up in 5'th. Then one rider dropped his bike and Vinny was in 4'th. One lap later he had passed Jesse and was now in 3'rd where he also finished.
Race 3 was Vinny's best start. He got the holeshot, but was on the outside in the corner and lost a place to Jesse. Jesse was fast on his Yamaha 250 2stroke and even if Vinny was at times on his back wheel he struggled to find a place to pass. And when Vinny's sub frame became loose and the rear guard dropped on to the back wheel he decided to protect his 2'nd place.
Some issues, but nothing that stopped us, gave Vinny a good workout and we drove home happy with the 4'th, 3'rd and 2'nd result!
No excuses for the long video! It was a good day of racing!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Bu4gLhg7Y&t=2s
Vinny races 2021 NZTT.
3 - 4 April
We travelled to Fullers farm in Taupiri north of Hamilton to race this years NZTT. We had entered Vinny in MX3/Clubman as he did not feel ready for MX2. And that was OK as were here to have fun.
We had received our new orange Gazebo from E-Z Up, the van was working well, the 150sx had some new bits fitted, we had brand new tyres and we were staying in Hamilton and sleeping in beds! What could go wrong? Well...
The track was a fraction shorter than last years one. But after the practice Vinny told me that he liked this track more!
The starting line was made up of 4 different classes: MX3/Clubman (22 riders), Enduro (3 riders), Classic Pre 02 (one rider) and Classic Pre 96 (4 riders). Some of the riders had entered in more than one of these classes, so they would get scored in both classes.
Vinny came out OK in Race 1 and was approx 11'th at the holeshot corner. He held that position for one more lap but was then taken down from behind. He got up and started the chase now sitting in 23'rd in the whole field. Lap by lap he was hunting the others down and at end of the race he placed 11'th. But in his class he was 7'th.
Back in the pits we noticed that the r/h radiator had a leak from the crash. It was a slow leak so we decided to risk it and keep on racing. After filling up the radiator Vinny went out for Race 2.
In Race 2 Vinny came out in 4'th. Then dropped a couple places and stayed in 6'th for 4 laps. Then a fall and he was down in 9'th. One lap later he had passed for 8'th where he finished. That gave him 5'th for Race 2 in MX3/Clubman and we were happy with that after Day 1. Three more races on the next day to try to cement the 5'th overall in MX3/Clubman!
Next day more sun and warmth. Vinny went out for the "Look Lap" before his first race on the day. But at a very slow pace the front brake came loose from the forks and bent the fitting. We did not have the bits with us to fix this, so Vinny did not go out in Race 3 of the TT. We dismatled the complete front brake and he went out to ride in the two last races, but only to have fun. There was a bunch of "front wheel in the air" riding and hitting the dirt berms. Vinny had fun with no pressure on and staying in last position.
So from Day 2 we got a DNS, 15'th and 16'th for 41 points overall and 13'th in Clubman. But we still considered it a good event and we will be back again next year aiming a fraction higher!
We did no videoing on Day 2, so I have made the two races from Day 1 a fraction longer.
Race 1: https://youtu.be/Qp7NucqBAHI
Race 2: https://youtu.be/Lso85KzB2ak
Central HB Club Round (Final),
21 March 2021
We had done some upgrades to Vinny's 150sx since last round in January. But we had not had enough time to refine them. Even so, we traveled down to Mangaorapa where an interesting track had been laid out with many off-camber turns.
As Vinny's MX2 class was first up for practice, the track was still all untouched damp grass and he struggled with grip. As the two first races did not provide any points we decided to leave bike as it was as it could have been the wet grass causing the issues.
In Race 1 Vinny found the going tough. The bike was hard to control and he felt very uncomfortable, dropping the bike 4 times even if he went slow and at the end of all riders.
For Race 2 we did some changes to the bike and managed to get the back wheel to get traction. Vinny started at the back not knowing how the changes would work out. But as his confidence in the bike grew he started passing riders and finished in 5'th. And it was a very relieved rider that came back to the pits!
A minor adjustment for Race 3, where the points were handed out, and Vinny felt confident he would do well. As the MX2 and MX1 classes were now doing a split start there was only 6 riders in Vinny's MX2 class. He quickly settled in to a 3'rd spot and held that one until the last lap when he attacked and passed for 2'nd. But it was not a quick pass, as he had played "cat and mouse" on the move for over a lap and shown his front wheel to the other rider in many bends and corners.
We were very happy with how the day had unfolded and the things we learnt about our 150sx. The bike is getting very close to where we want her to be!
The only sad thing with the day was that Jesse Renall still had an injured hand from the January meeting, and so was not able to ride on the track that was laid out on his parents farm!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjEUHQ9NfG0
Central HB Club Day
17 Jan 2021
First racing for us in 21. And apart from a practice day we had done no MX since early November. After some jet changes and minor adjustments, the 150sx was ready to fight with the 250 and 450 4 strokers!
It was a sunny, hot and dusty day on a track laid out over a few paddocks in Te Onepu. With low numbers in each class we were looking forward to a relaxing day of racing... but that did not eventuate!
As points are only allocated in the third (and last) race of the day when racing at Central HB MCC, MX1 and MX2 started together in the two first races.
In Race 1 Vinny soon got sorted and wanted a piece of the pie. But on Lap 2, when he went for a pass and the lead from one of the MX1 riders, Vinny was taken out. Luckily no damage to bike or rider. But he cut the race short and we went back to the pits.
In Race 2 Vinny was again following the same rider, while sitting in 2'nd. Bravely he once more tried a pass. This time he was prepared for the MX1 riders move and managed to avoid a crash. He then settled in to 2'nd spot and held it to the end.
We knew that in Race 3 (when points were allocated) Vinny would not be tussling with the MX1 riders as there would be a split start, so we were looking forward to the race!
After some initial tussling, plus leading in Lap 1, Vinny settled in to 2'nd behind a rider on a Yamaha that had kept himself further back in the two first races (cunning!!). In the two last laps Vinny attacked, but with the track now having deep piles of loose dirt everywhere and him running out of steam, Vinny stopped the attack and happily settled for 2'nd in the race. After the race Vinny went to congratulate the Yamaha rider for the win and learnt that the rider had early on marked Vinny as the biggest threat to his aim of winning the points race... To Vinny that was almost as good as a win!
