TEAM NZ 11th OVERALL
Team New Zealand had a trip to remember to the Veterans’ Motocross des Nations at Farleigh Castle in England at the weekend.
The team comprised Brendan Locke as team manager, with riders Ben Harding, Mitch Rowe, Greg Ngeru and Tom Twist supplied with specially-leased and factory-prepared EVO Class bikes. Twist raced a Yamaha YZ490, Harding was on a Honda CR250 and Rowe and Ngeru each rode Honda CR500s.
With very limited time in England due to work commitments, the team managed a shakedown test on the Wednesday before racing at the Milkrun track near London, where the bikes were dialled in to each riders preferences and the odd little gremlin ironed out.
Thursday gave the team a chance to do some sightseeing and weight training at Stonehenge whilst travelling to Farleigh Castle. There was also a little excursion to watch the Swindon Robins versus the Belle Vue Aces (speedway) and meeting up with Kiwi Bradley Wilson Dean and the Ozzie World Champion Jason Doyle.
Friday got the formal signing on and track walks done followed by a spot of shopping for those exotic and hard to get parts from the many trade stands. Excess baggage costs are likely to be significant especially for the team manager who was like a kid in a sweet shop.
One of the highlights and attractions of this event is the fact that you can rub shoulders and then bang handlebars with the likes of Doug Dubach, Mike Brown, Todd De Hoop, John Dowd, Jeff Emig, Jamie Dobb, Kurt Nicholl, Brian Wheeler, Tom Church and Neville Bradshaw. Our Ozzie neighbours fielded a strong team with James Deakin, Glenn Bell, Craig Anderson and Kirk Hutton to keep our boys honest and lots of laughs were had.
On the first day of racing with perfect track conditions, Ben qualified 21st, Tom 33rd, Greg 34th and Mitch 40th. This then led to hopes of a Top 10 team finish.
Race 1 ended with Ben in 16th, Greg 28th, Tom 32nd and Mitch in 46th out of a field of 60 riders after a start line pileup and brake problems as a result.
Race 2 ended with Ben in 22nd, Greg in 31st, Mitch in 33rd and Tom in 36th.
Day 2 started with a very wet track after a torrential thunderstorm the night before which led to the famous step section being taken out and going straight into racing with no practice or sighting lap. The very first race of the day for resulted in ¾ of the field crashing or spinning out and facing the wrong direction in the treacherous conditions.
Race 3 ended with Ben 25th and Mitch in 30th. Track conditions took their toll on Greg who was running in 14th at the time until the mud literally brought his bike to a standstill. Tom suffered a crash with a fallen rider that left him requiring medical attention to injuries he was already carrying.
Race 4 ended with Mitch in 26th and Greg 31st. Unfortunately Tom was unable to start the last race and Ben had a mechanical failure on the last lap whilst in 18th.
Overall the New Zealand team finished in 11th position and picked up the The Mark Hucklebridge trophy for the best team.
The team felt privileged to come to England and compete against so many ex factory riders and world champions on the factory built bikes provided by MBO Power and with four race technicians in support.
Rock Stars were how the team felt thanks to all the planning Brendan had put into the trip and the fantastic support from Roy Emberson at MBO Power, VMX NZ, Crown Kiwi, Twist Trucking, CSL Racing.
© Words and photos by Gary Smith, www.BikesportNZ.com
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LEADING RESULTS:
Evo Overall
- Neville Bradshaw
- John Dowd
- Mark Eastwood
- Kurt Nicoll
- Craig Anderson
- Jurgen Van-Nooten
- Tom Church
- Brian Wheeler
- Marvin Vandaele
- Patrick Caps
Twinshock
- Dave Campbell
- Alex Rach
- Terry House
- Didier Stommen
- Rick Du-Feu
- Stephen Kelly
- Wayne Butt 36
- Lance Marshall
- Daniel Thomas
- Merv Anstie
Evo Super
- Chuck Davies
- Matt French
- Chris Hind
- Ben Popperwell
- Lee Brown
Evo Over 50
- Kurt Nicoll
- Doug Dubach
- James Deakin
- Paolo Caramellino
- Nick Abbott
Evo 500
- Brad Anderson
- Shane Carless
- Barry Turnbull
- Sam Chapman
- Danny Blakeley
Twinshock Under 50
- Jordan Carter
- Michael Smith
- Todd De Hoop
- Laurence Wiltshire
- Luke Hill
Twinshock Over 50
- John Dowd
- Kevin Reed
- Alan Bott
- Massimo Signorin
- Brad van Barrelo
Evo 250
- Luke Hawkins
- Mark Eastwood
- Jamie Skuse 11
- Bradley Wheeler
- Will Worden
Pre 85-4St
- Kris Rosenberger
- Bjorn Verdoodt
- Joe Melton
- Barry Ranson
- Pat Jackson
Pre 85-Open
- Paul Kirby
- James Jackaman
- Paul Aldridge
- Michael Hill
- Neil Sutton
Pre 83-125
- Andrea Storti
- Neil Prince
- Paul Bennett
- Rob Mead
- Martin Stokes
Evo 125 Overall
- Kristian Whatley
- Laurent Lacasse
- John May
- Andrew Lawton
- Jurgen van Nooten