Nine countries in seven months, South Islander Jake Lewis has certainly clocked up the air miles on his way to becoming New Zealand’s next big thing in motorcycling.

Back in April, the 17-year-old double New Zealand road-racing champion left his Rangiora home bound for Europe, travelling with his former national road-race father Rob.

This was just weeks after clinching the national 600 superstock title at the New Zealand Superbike Championships’ final round at Taupo.

And the victory that day had signalled his second consecutive season of celebrating national championship glory – he picked up the New Zealand 125GP title last year – and in both instances he had been making his debut in the class. 

This year he was riding a Bob McCleary Yamaha R6, a huge leap in horsepower from the 125cc bike he rode a season earlier, but he has proven to be a quick learner and certainly lacks for nothing in the talent and bravery departments.

In was with all this in mind that the two Lewis men decided to hit the road, to see how far this sport could take them.

“I left school this year and went out into the real world,” said Jake Lewis.

“I left to compete in the European Junior Cup, but, after a few races, we decided it was not really where I wanted to go. We were given the opportunity to step up to race in the European Superstock 600 competition and jumped at the chance.

“We didn’t really have a base as such … we lived in a camper van and just drove from country to country, event to event.”

The intrepid Kiwi pair travelled through and raced in Italy, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, San Marino, the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal, returning home only last week.

“It was a bit hard at first dealing with the food and languages but we generally found a few people at each stop who could speak English. It was a struggle to work out at times what we were eating but the food was actually really great.

“Watching the racing, I thought I would be among the top 15 in the 600cc class, but when I got on the track, I realised just how fast these riders were. It was definitely an eye-opener.”

Lewis managed to feature among the top 20 in a field of more than 30 riders, but only cracked the top 15 once, at a damp Silverstone circuit, in England, and that was despite crashing early in the race.

“The tracks over there were different from what we experience in New Zealand too. They were longer, about 4.5 kilometres in length, and wider too. There were plenty of places to pass other riders, and to be passed by them too,” he laughed.

“Motorsport is the No.1 sport in Europe, next to soccer, and I was blown away by the quality of the riders. I really felt I learned a lot and I’m now much faster than I was. My sister came over to watch me at an event and she said she couldn’t believe that I’d get that fast so quickly.

“I feel really at home now on a 600 and will be racing the New Zealand Superbike Championships on a Bob McCleary Yamaha R6 in the 600cc supersport class this coming season.

“I am feeling really excited about getting back out on the Kiwi race tracks to show everyone what I’ve learned. I certainly hope to be battling for the No.1 spot at the nationals.”

The five-round national championships kick off in Christchurch on January 5-6, with rounds to follow in Timaru (Jan 12-13), Invercargill (Jan 19-20), Hampton Downs (March 16-17) and, finally, the series wraps up in Taupo on March 23-24.

© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com