WORDS: Mike Gould
PHOTOS: Supplied
FLAT TRACK
GO FAST...
TURN LEFT
Thanks to the efforts of some enthusiastic riders, flat track
racing is making a comeback in the South Island.
here’s been a revival in Flat Track
racing here in the South Island. It
came about when our company
(Gould Motorcycles Suzuki &
Kawasaki) employed Wayne Drake as a
mechanic at our dealership. Originally
from the UK, Wayne and three of his
four kids had been racing Speedway at
Moore Park Speedway in Christchurch.
He told me about (and showed me
footage) of him racing UK flat track
on converted motocross bikes, so I
suggested that he convert one of our
demo 450 motocrossers for flat track
use. He promptly set about converting
our Suzuki RM-Z450 L8 demo into ‘flat
track Spec’, then took the bike to Moore
Park In Christchurch, and Oreti Park in
Invercargill and did a few exhibition rides
at some of their speedway meetings.
This aroused quite a bit of interest, and
started people asking, “What the hell is
that?!” He reckoned people were pretty
keen to know more about “Speedway on
motocross bikes”.
This got me thinking... there could be
multiple benefits to organising some flat
track racing. Firstly, it could possibly be
the saviour speedway racing needs to
survive. Secondly, it would give another
sales outlet for MX bikes of any age,
and thirdly, it’s a form of motorcycle
sport that appeals to a wider range of
riders due to the fact that it’s low impact,
there’s a perceived “safer than jumps”
status, and it’s relatively low cost due to
any bike being able to participate. The
basic formula of ‘non-knobbly rear tyre
and front brake lever removed’ appeals
to a very wide range of bike riders... as
we were to find out.
KIWI RIDER 27