It was Action Suzuki all the way at the big annual Leatt Four-Hour Cross-country race at Taupo on Saturday.
The owner of the Action Suzuki dealership in Hawera, multi-time former national motocross and supercross champion Daryl Hurley, teamed with one of his shop staff members, New Zealand Motocross of Nations team rider Brad Groombridge, to run away with the high-profile off-road marathon on Saturday, the two motocross riders humbling many of the country’s elite cross-country and enduro riders.
Sharing the riding duties on a Suzuki RMX450 straight off the showroom floor, Groombridge and Hurley finished ahead of Auckland cousins Chris and Karl Power, with former national enduro champions Rory Mead, of Whitby, and Adrian Smith, of Mokau, claiming the third spot on the podium.
“For me it was all a part of my build-up for the Motocross of Nations (in Colorado is a little over four weeks’ time), just to give me plenty of bike time and strengthen me up … it was a total bonus to win the race, and to do it so comfortably too,” said the 20-year-old Groombridge. Read the rest of this entry »
Taranaki Twosome Triumph In Taupo
August 23rd, 2010Triumph Thruxton Special Edition here now!
August 18th, 2010
Triumph has introduced an SE version of its café racer-styled Thruxton, giving a sporty new look to a classic British design.
The 865cc parallel-twin Thruxton Special Edition, named after the British racetrack where Triumph enjoyed enormous success in the 1960s, debuts a stunning red frame and Crystal White bodywork with red stripe. The bike also comes with a colour-matched factory fitted fly screen and blacked out engine cases.
Combining modern engineering with a retro sports look, the Thruxton has long been a popular choice among motorcyclists wishing to experiment with custom paint and the factory special edition introduces two premium colours to the Triumph range for the first time.
Crystal White is a brand new colour for Triumph, containing a high metallic content to create a luxurious paint finish while the red powder coated frame is also a first time feature.
The Thruxton SE is available from authorised dealers now @ $14490 + ORC. (AUD)
2010/2011 NZ Race Dates Confirmed
July 23rd, 2010Road Races
Motorcycling New Zealand’s Road Race Commission chairman Peter Ramage confirm the 2011 Castrol Power1 Road Race Championship dates from his Invercargill base yesterday.
The five round series will be as follows:
- Jan 29-30th Levels Raceway South Canterbury Club
- Feb 5-6th Teretonga Park Southland Club
- Feb 12-13th Ruapuna Park Motorcycling Canterbury – GP titles
- Mar 26-27th Hampton Downs Auckland Club – TT titles
- Apr 2-3rd Manfield Manawatu Orion Club.
MotoCross
Following their meeting in Wellington on July 17th, Motorcycling New Zealand’s Motocross Commission has finalised the dates for next season’s Championships.
The season will move to Feb/March 2011. This change has been driven for the following reasons:
With better and more settled weather, we hope to encourage more public to attend and give the sponsors better value for their money and wider exposure for their brand
With new bikes arriving later and later in the year. By moving to early in the year the Industry will all have their new bikes in the country.
For the Clubs/volunteers who make these events happen, more public through the gate equates to better revenue for all their hard work
For the Riders, they will have the opportunity to train with the benefit of summer and daylight saving, rather than going into the Championships from the depths of winter.
An added advantage with the moving of the MX Championships is it will enable the Supercross season to run prior to the MX season and will also assist in aligning the New Zealand MX/SX seasons with our Australian neighbours.
Senior MX Championships:
- Sunday February 20th Round 1 South Canterbury M/C Club
- Sunday March 6th Round 3 Rotorua M/C Club
- Sunday March 27th Round 4 Taranaki M/C Club
2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
July 13th, 2010
2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
Here it is, the first pic of the new Kawasaki ZX-10R. The release of the pic is prior to testing at Suzuka later this month. This is the bike that Kawasaki hopes will launch them into the Superbike round in 2011. A road going version will follow with new engine, chassis and 200HP to boot. The new road version will of course be in Ninja Green so watch this space..
Commission Picks 2010 MXoN Team.
July 2nd, 2010Excitement mounts as MNZ’s Motocross Commission announces the Team to represent New Zealand at the Olympics of Motorcycling later this year.
The New Zealand Team to contest the Motocross of Nations in Colorado, USA in September will be Josh Coppins (Motueka), Ben Townley (Tauranga) and Brad Groombridge (Hawera).
Coppins and Townley will ride MX1 and have both indicated they are looking forward to this year’s event from their overseas bases.
Groombridge will ride MX 2.
Under the new FIM rules, the rider for MX2 must be under 23yrs.
New Zealand currently has several riders eligible for selection in this class. Working from a rider ranking system developed by the MNZ Motocross Commission, Groombridge was selected.
His consistent results at National level, his versatility, combined with his age were all deciding factors.
The position of Team Manager has yet to be confirmed.
Hutchinson Makes History With Five Wins In A Week At The Isle Of Man TT Races
June 18th, 2010
Ian Hutchinson
Ian Hutchinson made history on Friday when he became the first man to win 5 TT Races in a week after clinching a shortened 4-lap Dainese Senior race in what was a dramatic day’s racing on the Isle of Man. Hutchinson took the lead from the start and when close challengers John McGuinness and Conor Cummins retired and crashed respectively he was able to ease off in the closing stages to come home 37.77 seconds clear of Ryan Farquhar and Bruce Anstey. He beat the record of 11 time champion Phillip McCallen who was previously the only man in the races 103 year history to win 4 races in a week, which he achieved in 1996.
The initial 6-lap race got underway under blue skies and beautiful sunshine again and spectators were set for a thriller as Hutchinson, McGuinness, Cummins and Guy Martin went head to head over the first two laps. With all four lapping at over 130mph, there were less than six seconds splitting the quartet after the first pit stop, McGuinness leading the way from Martin, Cummins and Hutchinson. Read the rest of this entry »