EXPAT KIWI ROBBIE DEANS WOULD EASILY HAVE
WON THE BIGGEST GRIN OF THE DAY AWARD
STARS FROM THE EIGHTIES INCLUDE NEW
ZEALAND’S FIRST WORLD SUPERBIKE
WINNER GARY GOODFELLOW
1980S ICONIC STEVE
ROBERTS’ PLASTIC FANTASTIC
Other familiar faces were Gary Goodfellow
and Robbie Deans. A former ex-motocrosser,
and the Tauranga Terror, Goodfellow
raced extensively in Canada and the United
States before becoming New Zealand’s first
winner of a World Superbike round in Japan.
Goodfellow returned to New Zealand in the
1980s, competing in the International series.
Deans started his racing on Grass track
before becoming a regular front runner in the
domestic scenes in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
There were plenty of other notable former
champions and all those I saw had big beaming
grins for the duration of the weekend. Graeme
Crosby and Hugh Anderson were buried
in conversations. Taupo’s Fred Merkel and
Huntly’s Ginger Molloy made an appearance
too. There was also some young teenage
American female hotshot, Jamie Astudillo, at
the event. She seemed to be enjoying jumping
from one machine to the next as the day’s race
schedule rolled along.
KIWI RIDER 107