Race Report: Team Maidstone Yamaha Juniors go to the NZ Junior Motocross Champs in Mosgiel

Three aspiring champions travelled south to the NZ Junior Motocross Champs hosted by the Mosgiel District Motorcycle Club at a purpose built track just outside Mosgiel.

Callum Moore was flying the flag in the 11 - 12 years 85cc class, Kieran Harnett was racing in the Junior 125cc 12 - 14 years class and Liam Harnett was planning some low flying in the Junior 125cc 15 - 16 years class.

Day One: Friday. Practice, qualifying and the first race. 

Friday dawned cold and wet. Very wet. And windy. And cold. The team advance party arrived at the track when it was still dark. We put the tents up we'd left pegged out the night before and by the time we'd finished, the rest of the team had arrived. We'd signed in had the day before, so only a quick visit to race control was needed.
The track had been heavily watered the previous day so it would be in good condition for racing. Then, as it rained very heavily overnight, it was now a quagmire in many places.

Liam was the first out on the track with his qualifying practice. He did the smart thing and had a very good look at the track conditions and then pushed for a good qualifying lap. He was rewarded by getting the 17th fastest time.

Callum practised next, followed by Kieran. As Kieran was the last to go out he was able to benefit from the advice of the other two riders about how the track was shaping up. He put this to good use and put in quite a decent time, getting the 29th fastest.

Then Callum went out to qualify in the top 40. He had two qualifying sessions and didn't very well in the first one. He was in the qualifying group, but not where he should have been on pre-race form. The second one was much better. The track had dried up a lot and the weather had warmed up from almost freezing to just really cold. He qualified 6th fastest from the 76 entrants. This was a much better result and gave him a good start gate pick.

And so to racing.

Now to racing. Liam got to go first. He lined up, the gate dropped, and he got a mediocre start. He did recover from this really well. Lots of passing and hard work got him back up to midfield by mid race. He got up as far as 16th, before being caught and passed by two other riders and finally finishing 18th. Points on the board, and a good finish to the day.

Next class up was Callum's. He got a good start and converted that to a good race. He managed to get up to second, but, like Liam, got passed and finished third.

Kieran's was the last race for the day. He started conservatively, but got caught up in the first corner pile up. A short trip over the bars was the start of his race. Up and going again, he pushed hard and passed some of the slower riders and made good progress through the field. A couple of other riders fell off and this helped his cause. He finished 34th.

Day Two: Saturday. Racing all day. 

Saturday dawned cold and damp. The team reassembled bright and early. The we all went to breakfast at the Yamaha tent. All the Yamaha riders were invited to share the hospitality of Yamaha New Zeland. The breakfast was hot, tasty and plentiful. Thanks to Yamaha NZ for a top start to the day. (Jim Tuckerman told me I had to write thanks Peter, so thanks, Peter.)

125cc 15 - 16 years.
Liam got to go first. In Race 1, he had his start dialled this time and got away really well. The track was much better than yesterday and he went much faster. He looked fast and pushed hard. He got past a couple of riders who had beaten him the day before and got up as far as 16th. He was pushed back to 18th by some faster riders who had fallen off earlier in the race.

Liam didn't get such a good start in race 2, but he was off mid pack and safely through the first couple of corners. He got his head down and tried hard to keep the throttle open, the bike going forwards and right side up. He did pass a few riders, but there were two parts of the track he was having trouble with and so lost places late in the race. He was 18th again.

Race 3 for Liam was his best of the day. He still didn't get the best of starts and so had a challenge to get a decent finish. He pushed hard and worked on the riders in front of him, wearing them down. He managed to pass a rider on each of the last two laps. 16th place was the result for this one. Things were looking up.

So at the end of the day, Liam was in 19th place.

11 - 12 years 85cc Class.
Callum went next and holeshot Race 1. He managed to lead for half a lap before being caught and passed. He then spent most of the race in second, before tiring and being passed near the end. A good third and more points towards a good result.

He got a really good start in Race 2, no holeshot but out in the front group. Things fell apart a bit during this race and Callum didn't go so well. While he stayed on the bike, he just didn't keep moving towards the front. 4th place wasn't bad, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

Race 3 was even worse. It looked like Callum's campaign was going wrong. He fell off just before the whoops. Lost the front and fell over. He got going again, but lost a place and touch with the leaders. He came in fifth.

While this may have looked bad, the opposition was doing even worse. Callum placing at the end of the day was 4th, only two points behind 3rd place. Day 3 was going to be good.

125cc 12 - 14 years.
Kieran started Race 1 without incident and kept out of trouble for all of the first lap. Well, mostly. He hit the ground in the last corner and wound up last. He was getting used to this by now. Up and going again, he started on his now customary charge up the field. The drier conditions suited him better and his laptimes were coming down. He didn't crash again during the race and finished 34th again.

Race 2 was much better. Kieran got a good what should have been a rubbish gate pick, but wound up next to one of the fastest starters in the class. Kieran just followed him out of the gate and stayed in his wake while the fast guy bored a hole through the pack. Sadly, Kieran lost many of the places he gained and came together with another rider at the back of the circuit and crashed. He wasn't delayed long and didn't lose too many places. In fact he got his best placing of the day at 32nd. Race 3 was late in the day and we were worried we'd need to fit an enduro light kit so the boys could see. Kieran didn't get to start next to the hotshot this time, but he did get start OK and made it through the first few corners well placed. As the race wore on, it all settled down and while he tried hard, he wasn't making any ground on the boys in front of him. The race and the day finished with Kieran in 34th.

His overall place at the end of the two day's racing was 35th.

Day Three: Sunday. Last day. 

Sunday dawned cold and sort of fine. The team got to the track early again and put up the tents and got organised for the day. The we checked to see if breakfast at the Yamaha Tent was being cooked and went over to say hello. We were made welcome and really felt part of the Yamaha family. The food was good, too. Thanks again to Yamaha for their hospitality.

125cc 15 - 16 years.
Liam was all fired up for the last day. He wanted to do better than the day before and he was determined to do the last double jump he hadn't managed during the first two days. After inspecting the track he reckoned he could do it.

So he got a rubbish start in Race 1. It turned into something decent owing to the acceleration of the YZ125. For some reason Liam's bike just goes really fast. And from there on Liam was just on a mission. Everything just fell into place in this race. The track suited him, he did the last double and he didn't get tired. His got his best placing so far when he finished 12th. Liam was really looking forwards to Race 2. Another mediocre jump off the start was turned into good position on the track by midway through the first lap. He pushed really hard, but this one didn't go quite so well. He said not so many people fell off in front of him, so while he went just as fast, he didn't get quite the reward he'd hoped for. 13th place was a pretty good result, though. And more importantly, people who had finished in front of him were well behind him at the finish. Race 3 was a lot like Race 2, except the dust on the track had become a major issue. If you didn't get out at the front, there were parts of the track where everything just disappeared in a cloud of dust when someone got there before you. There had been discussions about where to ride before the start, and a plans had been made. Liam stuck to the plan, but arm pump later in the race made him slow up a bit. Still, another good finish in 14th place was a good reward.

When all the scores were totalled, Liam had come out in 16th place. He said "At least that's better than last year. I think I'll run that number."

85cc 11 - 12 years.
Callum had a bit of a mountain to climb. He'd not done as well as he'd hoped the day before, and needed three good races.

He certainly showed he meant business when the gate dropped for Race 1. He holeshot and went into the lead. He lead the race for more than half the first lap before being relegated to second. He tried really hard and looked really good for a while, but eventually got passed and he finished the race in 3rd. This race was especially good as the nearest competitor to Callum had a shocker.

Race 2 was like Race 1. Gate drops, Callum disappears and everyone else follows. Again, he lead for a while, but got passed and put back to second. The race plan fell apart a bit when he fell off just before the whoops. The front just washed out and he was on the ground. This cost him a couple of places, but he got over the line in 4th. The points battle was still in his favour.

Callum didn't get the holeshot in Race 3, but he didn't need to. He started well, and he hung on to the front three for the whole race, but never quite managed to catch them. He was still right on their tails at the end of the race, but all he had to do was finish in sight of them and his 3rd placing was in the bag. So a 4th place finish was all that was needed.

The Team had its first podium finisher. Congratulations to Callum. Number 3 in New Zealand.

125cc 12 - 14 years.
The weather conditions for the three days of the event had been quite different. Sunday was warming up nicely. Well, still very sub-tropical, but brass monkeys were no longer in danger. The track had been quite different, too. On Friday it was very slippery and muddy. On Sunday it was dusty. It continued to dry out during the day and visibility got worse and worse. Kieran got off the line quite well in Race 1, and managed the first three crowded corners with no drama. The rest of the race was the same. No drama. Just good, clean racing. He came in 35th.

When Race 2 came round for Kieran, the dust was getting worse, but it was warmer and the parts of the track that weren't dusty were now a lot better to ride. Kieran was hoping for a better result this time as he'd been beaten in the last race by someone he'd beaten all weekend. His usual safe start was followed by a safe race. He did get the result he wanted, and a placing of 33rd.

Kieran was looking forwards to finishing the day by the time Race 3 came around. It had been a long weekend and this was the team's last race. Track conditions had deteriorated to the point where there was just no visibility at one of the more difficult parts of the track, and if you were down the order when you got there, you either rode by feel, or waited until you could see. Someone falling off in the middle of the dust cloud further slowed things down, and by the time Kieran got safely past, he was well out of touch with those he should have been racing with. Thinking it was better to bring it home safely and just finish the last race, he rode sensibly and crossed the line in 36th.

Kieran completed a successful weekend where he finished every race, never finished last and had a final placing of 35th.

Final Results for the Weekend