PI 2005 - NZ Post Classic Racing Association

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a few seconds back to Colin Higgins who was ahead of Jim Campbell. All the kiwi riders had recorded personal best lap times which left them happy after the earlier bad weather. Most Over 500cc Forgotten Era Kiwi team entrants were also doing double duty with the International Challenge and the reality of both classes, 8 races and 8 qualifiers or practices was starting to sink in. The International Challenge was seen as the more important races and as a result the Over 500cc Forgotten Era races were starting to become less of a focus. Most Kiwi riders starting to use them as a scrub session or practice. Nobody told Peter Daniel that as pulled a 3 rd place out behind the renown Zakelj brothers on their booming bevel drive Ducati’s. Dossa was 4 seconds back in 4 th on the now rat bike GS1000 and Dave Freeman riding like a man possessed for 7 th - last Kiwi finisher, but by no means last on the road. Saturday’s second International Challenge race proved to be what a brilliant idea it was with 1 st and 2 nd separated by .154 of a second, 26 finishers, some very hard riding and team tactics coming in to play. James Clark (UK) took the win just from a faltering Stu Loly right before the line as Stu’s GSX broke an earth wire and lost drive, and Scotty was tucked in for third again after dipping into the 1.49’s and being there for most of the race. Dosser was in 7 th again, Dave Freeman 14 th , Seddo 18 th doing lap times 10 seconds quicker than in 2004. Phil Duxbury was 20 th and 1 st 350 on his Yamaha and had some pretty impressive bikes finish behind him. Pete Daniel was an uncharacteristic 22 nd and a lap down and was later attributed to being run off the track at T11 by a UK team member (and ending up out by the tyre wall!). Pete in his haste to get back on terms then ran off again, half a lap later. By this point the leaders were coming around so held up 1 st and 2nd as much as possible then let Scotty through easily and held tail gunner behind Scotty if 4 th place got too close. All for the team… Sunday’s riders briefing told the bad news about the excellent lap times from most races on Saturday (except the International Challenge which used transponders), they were all wrong and about 4 seconds less than they should be…That dispelled a few dreams for some of the riders I spoke to. Much humour was had by most non Australian riders as the Australian International Challenge riders were asked to stay behind after riders briefing so they could be told there is no “I” in team and so they could see who their team mates were… Also news overnight had Pete Jones cleared to ride again following his CAT scan and Mark Cocks with multiple broken ribs, broken collar bone, a big bang on the head and very sore, but appearing to be okay. First Kiwi posties out on the track again were the 0-500 forgotten era class. Murray sat out the race while he changed ignitions and Australian Stu Garner ran off with the race lapping 6 seconds a lap quicker than second place. Phil Duxbury took 1 st Kiwi honours in 7 th with I hear a spirited ride through the field, his RD350LC not having the power of TZ’s he’s up against. Kerry Wilton was just over a second a lap behind in 8 th after another good get away then riding with some caution within the group he was with. Colin Higgins was 11 th and when I saw him, he was riding great too, as was Paul Brown 12 th . I got a flyer of a start, holding the front wheel about 2 feet off the deck most of the way through 1 st gear, making 3 rows off the line. On entry to the first turn I found myself in unchartered territory near the front. Didn’t last long though as lack of racing and a front wheel patter dragged me back down the field a little for 14 th , 2 sec’s in front of Jim Campbell. Sunday’s 1 st over 500 Forgotten Era race was more like an extended scrub or test session, but it still didn’t stop the top Kiwi and Aussie boys having a crack though the field did stretch out a little. Stu Loly took the race out after finding his problems from the previous day. Pete Daniel was under 4 seconds behind, with 10 seconds on third. Pete Jones was back out on the TZ700 after we’d done some patch up work that morning, though he was finding the
stability to have gone south with the previous days unplanned removal of the windscreen. The wind blast at 170+ mph blowing him around some and this affecting the bike even more. Still he was only a second slower than Friday so, his crash hadn’t really affected him. Last race before lunch had the 3 rd Forgotten Era International Challenge race. By Sunday most people at the circuit had worked out these were the races to watch with full grids and unusually close racing. Only nobody told Scotty that, as he literally ran away and hid, pulling 11.85 seconds on second in 6 laps. Pete Daniel was in a group contesting 3 rd place, which was eventually taken by top UK performer James Clark on his F1 style P&M 1270cc Kawasaki. Pete was later relegated 10 seconds for a jumped start, putting him down in 10 th . Dossa was 7 th , only 1 second behind 6 th place Mick Neason riding a bike that was somewhat suspect in it’s eligibility and proved a sore point with officials in the next race when the Kiwi’s asked for it to be pulled from the starting grid. Regular points scorer and wheelie King Chris Meads was 15 th with a new head gasket fitted after Sat afternoon’s race, Peter Jones 17 th battling not only Seddo, but also a gearbox oil leak that would park the big TZ for the last race. Cliff Richard fan, Dave Freeman was 20 th and Phil Duxbury led home Dave Morley and Paul Brown for 23 rd – 25 th . Australian Craig Morris was back in winning form for the last 0-500 Forgotten Era race winning by an incredible 32 seconds in 5 laps. Phil Duxbury having blagged a set of Avons for the afternoon fought his way into 4 th and Kerry Wilton was having a private little race with a couple of Australian regulars John Hewitt and Chris Barton. The final outcome being decided on the last straight with the TZ we’d built for Kerry specifically for this meeting passing both the others on the run to the line. Colin was 13 th doing lap times constant all weekend and Jim Campbell back in 15 th . I’d made some changes to my rear suspension in the lunch break which made my front end patter much worse so before I had a chance of binning it, I pulled in on the 2 nd lap and watched the last of the race. The last over 500cc Forgotten Era race was business as usual for Stu Loly with a run away win over Rudee Skank. First Kiwi was Dossa in 4 th , Seddo in 6 th Dave Freeman in 7 th , Chris Meads in 9 th . Last race of the weekend was the final 8 lap International Challenge race. The Australian team had it wrapped up and the Kiwi’s were a few points down on the Poms. With 12 months of bragging rights riding on the result it was going to be a hard run thing and some 10 DNF’s was the result – some of which were most spectacular. E.G. UK Team member James Clark spraying Pete Daniel with oil as he passes him down the front straight while his motor is destroying itself, soon followed by finding of this problem as he backs it into turn 1 and right through the gravel trap sideways. Pete Daniel on the next lap had the death rattle in the same place. Scotty who’d paced himself all weekend held on for another second place. Dossa made 6 th , Chris Meads was a stirling 8 th , just ahead of Dave Freeman in 9 th , Seddo 11 th , Phil Duxbury and Peter Jones on the smallest bikes in the race in 14 th and 16 th Respectively, Peter having borrowed Colin’s LC for the last race. Dave Morley rounding out in 15 th with only 19 finishers. All these mid field finishes having the desired effect of pulling the Kiwi’s through for second in the challenge. I understand that all we have heard from the UK is silence on the subject… Another fast Sunday evening container pack up with the bench racing starting immediately again, with security basically having to kick us out at about 8pm so they could go home. 4 th time around it was as good as ever and with the huge international contingent attending this year it made for me my favourite race meeting get even better. The International Challenge (dreamed up by Craig Smith) was an unknown quantity and a big punt for the
Page 1 and 2: Innocents Abroad, Part 5 - 12th Ann
Page 3: We soon found the big Yamaha by the

PI 2005 - NZ Post Classic Racing Association

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