KIWI RIDER FEBRUARY 2021 VOL1 | Page 22

ROAD NEWS
You ’ ll also get to take to the track for special parade laps with the legends and you ’ ll get free entry to the Saturday night BBQ . Bring your display bike , your project bike in any state to enter and display . There will be prizes for : Best presented multi cylinder two stroke Street and Racing ; Best presented Twin ; Best presented Single ; Best presented Team ; Rare Bike Category ; Best Barn Find ; Most Optimistic Project ( let ’ s see that rusting hulk ). The Motul NZ Classic Grand Prix will put extra zing onto the jam-packed programme and , as many would probably expect , this feature is drawing in legends of yesteryear ... iconic , famous and well-loved bikes and some of the equally celebrated riders of the age too . As for the modern bike battles , the form book was thrown out the window as the first half of the 2021 NZSBK wrapped up in the South Island just two weeks ago . The four-round NZSBK series kicked off at Mike Pero Motorsport Park , Ruapuna , on the outskirts of Christchurch , on the weekend of January 9-10 , with round two followed just a week later , at Levels International Raceway , near Timaru , and that set the cauldron bubbling ahead of an expected MotoFest boil-over . Although Whakatane ’ s Damon Rees have been a last-minute entry in the NZSBK – after delaying his planned trip to race in the United Kingdom – and riding an ( older-model ) bike , borrowed from his elder brother Mitch Rees , it didn ’ t slow him down at all and he completed the two-round South Island phase of the NZSBK in winning style . The Rees siblings packed up their equipment at the conclusion of racing at Levels with the two Honda team-mates positioned 1-2 at the top of the Superbike class rankings at what was also the halfway stage of the 2021 championship . “ We ’ ll have some new bikes for the racing at Hampton Downs and Taupo and we ’ ll do a lot of testing before those events ,” said Damon Rees . “ It ’ s just so good to be racing here at home when there ’ s nothing sporting happening on the other side of the world ( because of the COVID-19 pandemic ) and this is the best preparation for me for when I do head across to do the British championships .” Rangiora ’ s Jake Lewis ( Yamaha ), Christchurch ’ s Alastair Hoogenboezem ( Yamaha ) and Taupo ’ s Scott Moir ( Suzuki ) round out the top five in this elite class after Levels . Christchurch ’ s Dale Finch ( Triumph ) as so far been unbeaten in the class , winning all the Supersport 600 races at Ruapuna and Levels , and Chandler ( Yamaha ) is safely second overall after two rounds , but Fuller ( just 11 points adrift of Kawasaki ’ s 2019 600cc champion Avalon Biddle ) is a novice in the class and is rightly encouraged by the form he has been exhibiting against his vastly more-experienced rivals . One of the most impressive riders in the series so far has been 14-year-old Invercargill rider Cormac Buchanan ( Yamaha ), who won all but one of his 11 races at rounds one and two in the two separate classes he is campaigning this season – the Supersport 300 and Supersport 150 classes .. MotoFest again has the support of Kawasaki , as it has since day one , Bridgestone , Motul , Shoei and MTF Finance . Star Insurance will again sponsor and bring to life the Legends Garage , while manufacturer and trade displays will also have fans possibly not knowing which way to look . MotoFest will certainly tick all the boxes with bike enthusiasts if the 2021 edition can match last season ’ s MotoFest .
For more information on the upcoming Mike Pero MotoFest weekend , go to www . hamptondowns . com
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