Rotorua Motorcycle Club Inc » Results

2010 MX Round 1 points

Morgan — Mon, 03 May 2010 07:48:11 +0000

Click on the link below to check out the points for 2010 Winter MX Round 1

RMCC 2010 Winter MX RND 1 points

Western Heights High School UBIX Invitation MX Tournament 2010 points results

Morgan — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:29:46 +0000

The finalised points results for Western Heights High School UBIX Invitation MX Tournament 2010 are here.

Click on the link below to check the list

2010 WHHS MX Tournament Points results

Congratulations to all who competed

Cheers,
Rotorua Motorcycle Club

Rotorua Motorcycle Club AGM 2010

Morgan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:23:29 +0000

All riders, members, anyone …

We will be holding our AGM mid March. Details are below:

When: Tuesday 16 March 2010
Where: Ngongotaha Bowling Club, Domain Ave
Time: 7:30pm

All are welcome. Come along and air your views. We want to hear what you have to say.

Contact:
Joe Nathan
07 333 8866

Dale Lea
07 345 3947

Ossie
027 284 0606

Michael Phillips – NZ GP Woodville

Morgan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:13:30 +0000

Michael Phillips
Event: New Zealand GP
Location: Woodville track
Date: 31st Jan 10
Class: MX1
Bike: Honda CRF 450
Placing: 3rd

I arrived at the Woodville track Saturday afternoon in nice sun shine and couldn’t wait to ride the fast tacky flowing track. By Sunday morning things had changed a little weather wise and the rain started to come down. At times it looked like clearing but unfortunately it stuck around and made for a muddy sticky day.

Practice: I didn’t muck around in practise and just held it wide open to make it around the sticky muddy track. I was having fun and put down the fastest time by 7 sec.

Moto1: Even though I had the fastest practice time we still had to pick pegs for our gate position and I unfortunately got an outside gate.
I made to most of it and came around the first turn in around 4th. I pushed into 2nd behind team mate Justin McDonald and followed some of him lines for a few laps. I made the pass for first and pulled a little gap but got caught up in some lappers a few laps later and Kawasaki’s Ben Townly came right up on me. I went wide in a corner not long after and Townly cut on the inside of me and made the pass. I followed Townly for the next two laps and on the last lap pushed hard to make a pass but couldn’t get close enough. Finished in 2nd

Moto2: I got a good jump off the gates and came around the first turn in the top 3 but spun out pushing a little to hard. I didn’t go down but I lost loads of places.
I started the big push from the back of the top 10 and by the 4th lap I was in 4th. They were only giving us 5 lap races for some reason and with them cutting a big chunk off the track after practice they were under 9 minute races. Not ideal but I chucked everything at it on the last lap and passed KTM rider Shaun Fogarty for 3rd and caught right on to the back wheel of team mate McDonald. Unfortunately not able to make a pass I finished 3rd

They cut the day short with only two races. I tied on points with McDonald and I finished 3rd overall on the count back because he had a better 2nd moto placing.

We still had a feature race that took to fastest 40 rider from all classes.
I got out to a good start and was sitting in 3rd but took a line I hadn’t tried all day and got a kicker. It chucked me over the bars and I slid along the ground. If it wasn’t for a woodin batten marker peg I would of come out ok but the batten had other ideas. I hit the batten with my head at the bass and it put a 30mm split in my top lip. I could feel my lip hanging there so pulled out of the race.

Overall I had a fun day. Despite waiting 4 hours at the hospital to get my lip stitched up and a dead leg I made it though the weekend alright with the fastest times in both motos and practice.
I get back on the MX2 bike now and focus the next two months on speed and intensity for this years Australian MX nationals that start at the end of March. I’m riding for Honda Australia in the mx Lites class. Will let you know more closer to the start of the series

Cheers, Mike

Neville & Jo Mickleson – Wanganui Cemetery Curcuit 2009

Morgan — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:31:29 +0000

Our yearly Christmas pilgrimage to Wanganui saw us set up once again in the pits by 11am on Christmas day awaiting sign on and scruitineering. This year Jo rode her bike from Hamilton. Dad, who was racing his 1939 350cc Velocette MAC brought down my 500cc Jawa/Briggo race bike, both bikes were entered in the Classic Class. By 4.30pm all the official work had been done and we settled down for a low key Christmas evening.

Race day commenced before 6am with competitors and officials arriving and getting everything ready before the riders briefing at 7.30am. There I found out that I was going to be on the sidecar in one race and then have to swap immediately onto the Jawa so swift races and bike changes were going to be the order of the day. The sidecar was first up for practice and qualifying followed by the bike and past experience has proved that it’s best to get out first, clear out from the traffic and get stuck in to setting a good time, as this gives us our grid position for all the races. First session put us on poll position with the sidecar and second row with the Jawa. I was having trouble with the front brake on the solo so my times weren’t as good as I’d hoped. I attended to the brake adjustment and just had to hope it was going to be okay as they canned the second practice for the classic bikes. The second session with the chair still left us on the front row with 0.2 sec separating the top 3 sidecars.

First race was in the sidecar and after a pitifully slow start with smoke pouring off the brand new rear tyre we settled into 3rd place behind ‘Scriv’/Steve Bryan on the 1000 BMW and John Blaymires/Rat on the 950 Moto Guzzi. The lack of rear tyre grip meant we were ‘backing it in’ to the corners quite a bit and entertaining the crowd…great fun and Jo was loving it too! Third place on the chair with the others not far in front was a good result, especially when you consider that normally these guys are in a separate (more modern) class with their fatter tyres, kneeler configuration (giving a lower centre of gravity), disc brakes (even a brake on the sidecar wheel).

Then it was straight out on the bike, after a reasonable start I settled in to 5th place behind Tony McQueen (500 Norton Dominator), Warren Marsh (500 Manx Norton), my friend Andrew Drake (500 Velocette Venom) and Colin Tate (750 Norton Dominator). Nearly overcooked on the 4th lap under brakes and Graham Peters (500 BSA Goldstar) almost got past, but managed to claw it back and by the end I believe I came in 5th. However having watched it on Speedbox TV they claimed I got 4th with Colin pulling out somewhere along the line. Jack, my Dad, did okay too with a mid to lower field placing. Pretty good, as at 78 he was the oldest entrant on the oldest bike entered for the meeting.

The second sidecar race saw us with another slow start and this time the Robert Hood/Ed Curlett 850 Norton got into 3rd in front of us. We chased him hard into the esses with us ducking up the inside with a lot more speed than him for the line into the right-hander but then it all came unstuck in a BIG way. We drifted into him and he cut over toward us a bit, we tangled, with his gear lever going into our third wheel which turned us around backwards into the bale wall and then a full 360 the other way up over the curb and off the track. My first real gutser in the 22 years of classic sidecar racing, which can be viewed it all its glory at www.speedbox.tv. Luckily we came out of it okay with Jo totally unscathed, me with only a sprained ankle and the sidecar with only a slightly buckled 3rd wheel and minor paint damage.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get back to the pits in time for my next bike race so had to sit it out. Probably just as well as my ankle was starting to give me grief. Jo then went on to swing twice for Tracey Anderson on the all girl BADD (bikers against drunk drivers) sponsored fuschia pink modern sidecar. Tracey had lost Astrid, her swinger, off the back in the first race and Astrid too had a sprained ankle (though much worse than mine). Until the accident we had intended to take the sidecar up to Taupo for the final of the Tri-series meeting on the 28th, so we went anyway to watch and Jo ended up swinging for Tracey for the meeting and they achieved two fifth places.

Our sidecar is all repaired and ready for the next meeting which is the NZCMRR Classic Festival at Pukekohe on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of Feb. so we’ll see you there.

Regards
Neville and Jo Mickleson.

Michael Phillips – SummerX ’09

Morgan — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:15:26 +0000

Event: Whakatane SummerX
Date: 28th Dec 09
Track: Sandy with a grass section
Class: MX1
Bike: Honda CRF450
Placing: 2nd

It’s always the last big race of the year at SummerX and most of the top riders turn up to the fun sandy Awakaponga track.
Last year I some how did two classes but this year I opted to do MX1.

Qualifying was similiar to some of the English races I have done. Only get a few laps to see the track then straight into qualifying.
I managed to put down the fastest lap and qualify first.

Moto1: I got off the start good but tangled with another rider down the start straight. I managed to keep it on two wheels and duck on the inside and come out 4th. I squared up the next corner and cut on the inside of Suzuki rider Cody Cooper.
I sat in 2nd behind Kawasaki’s Ben Townley until we got to the grass section. I had my lines sorted and railed a nice burn and went around the outside of Townley.
I held the lead for a few laps until Townley passed me back down a big straight. I tried cutting on the inside but stalled the bike. I got the bike going and held 2nd until I made the same mistake and stalled it again a few laps later. It took a little longer to start this time and I lost a few places.
I finished the race in 5th.

Moto 2: I had learnt from the last race and knew what to do. I got a good start but Townley had the holeshot and came out in front. I was in second and had Townley in my sights.
I followed Townley for a lap and when we got to the grass section, I made the pass. I had the lead but Townley was still with me. I managed to pull a small lead and hold it for the rest of the race. I finished 1st.

Moto 3: It was all on. I knew Townley wouldn’t go down without a fight.
I got off the concrete start good and held it all the way into the first turn. I had Townley on the outside of me but I took the berm anyway and got the holeshot. Townley cut on the inside of me on the next corner and made a pass down the next hill. I passed him back through the sawdust section but on the next straight away he got me back. It went on like this for about 3 laps. I was able to make a pass stick and get to the front.
I pulled a few seconds on Townley but made the mistake of backing it off a little. Townley made a big charge on the last two laps and I couldn’t find the speed I had in the first half of the moto. He passed me on the last lap and I had to settle for 2nd.

Overall I had a good fun days racing. I picked up the 450 two weeks earlier and wasn’t sure how I was going to go on the big bike.
I had a 3 week break after the Hamilton SuperX and have been back into off season training for 3 weeks now and everything is going to plan.
My next race is the Woodville NZ GP at the end of January. Planning only to ride the MX2 class but we’ll see how the training goes.

Michael Phillips

John Phillips – 2009 Demon Energy MX Nationals (Round 4)

Morgan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:59:44 +0000

Event: 4th and final round of the NZ MX Champs
Date: 15/11/09
Venue: Barrett Road Track Taranaki
Bike: Honda CRF250R
Result for the day: 10th
Championship Result: 8th
Track conditions: hard and slippery
Weather: raining on and off throughout the the day

Practice: went well, I got a good look at the track and sussed out my lines

Qualifying: I let every one go before me thinking that I would get a nice open space to put in my fast lap. But I caught up to the riders that were in front of me on my first fast lap and I struggled to put in a decent lap the whole way through qualifying. I Qualified 14th

Race 1: I spun off the start gate and was in the middle pack coming into the first turn and fortunately for me my brother Michael came down and took alot of other riders down with him. I was running in 10th for the first couple laps then I passed the two that were in front of me and held that position for a couple laps until Michael and Scott columb charged on passed which dropped me back to tenth. I rode the rest of the race out in tenth.

Race 2: I got a good start and came around the first turn in 4th place, then moved up to 3rd as a rider in front of me went down on the second corner. I slipped back to 4th on the second lap and to 5th on the third. On the fourth lap I ran a corner out the back too high and Yamaha rider Keiran Leigh snuck up on the inside of me and took out my front wheel. I went down and had to start my bike on a slippery uphill. It took a wile to start but I managed to get back going in about 27th and I held it on from there. I finished in 15th place.

Race 3: Got away to another good start and was running in 5th for the first lap, then slipped back to 6th and then passed 5th and kept that position for a few laps then slipped back to 6th again. Kawasaki rider Rhys cater stayed in front of me and was doing enough so I couldn’t make any time on him. His gap on me stayed the same right up until the last lap where he got taken out by a lapper. I passed the finish flag in 5th

My goal coming into this championship was to finish in the top 10 and I am stoked I have achieved that. I would just like to thank my parents for all their support, my mechanic James for keeping my bike in mint condition, my brother Michael for helping me out, my sponsors: Rowlinson Honda for the awesome bike, fly race wear for the best gear. Smith Optics for perfect vision, motograghic graphics for making my bike look good, and everyone else that helped me achieve my goal.

Regards

John Phillips

Michael Phillips – 2009 Demon Energy MX Nationals (Round 4)

Morgan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:57:42 +0000

Event: New Zealand Demon Energy Motocross 2009 Championship Round 4
Location: Barrett road Motocross track Taranaki
Class: MX2
Bike: Honda Crf 250
Track conditions: Dusty but wet
Overall day: 2nd
Overall series: 1st

It was time to head to the final round of the 09 championship at Taranakis Barrett road track just out side New Plymouth and with a 4 point lead I knew it was going to be a big weekend.
We walked the track on the Saturday and there was dust everywhere. The weather forecast had been for rain the next day so the club was holding off watering to see what was going to happen.
Sunday rolled around and it rained but not as much as they had forecast and there were slippery insides and big dusty burms in practise and qualifying.
I managed to put a few good times in and come out with the 2nd fastest time behind Honda rider Jessy Wiki. I was happy with that.

Moto 1 the rain was still drizling down but the track hadn’t changed much from qualifying so it was going to be a slippery dusty race.
I got my Honda off the concrete clean and pushed into the first turn but came in a little hot and both wheels slid out. I just so happened to be in front and had about 10 bikes ether ride over me or into me. I picked myself off the ground in about last place and was thinking that’s the championship done. I rode as fast as I could in the conditions and before I new it I was on the back wheel of Suzuki rider Scott Columb the rider I was 4 points in front of in the championship.
I managed to pass Columb and get into 5th place by the end of the moto.

Moto 2 I didn’t get off the gates that great and came around the first turn in about 7th but pushed into 3rd by the first lap. I had my team mates Cam Dillion and Peter Broxholme in front of me. Both made little mistakes and I was able to get into the front. Broxholme had my back the hole race and we came in 1st and 2nd.

Moto 3 I got off to a good start and had Broxholme in front of me for a lap. I past Broxholme and had the lead but Columb had moved into second behind me and I was wondering what he was going to do. I made the first move and let him past. I only had to finish in the top 5 if he won the race for me to get the championship.
Broxholme was in 3rd and even though we were going pretty slow he didn’t need to pass me. He had the overall for the day and 3rd in the championship.
It was a slow race with Columb looking back to see if I wanted to race him. I was happy sitting in 2nd and that’s how it ended up.

I was just happy to get that last race over an done with. The racer inside of me wanted to win but I new second was good enough for the championship. Scotty pushed me the hole championship, we had some good battles and I hope we put on a good show for those that watched.
A big thanks to my team Honda Racing NZ for there support during the series. Also congratulations to team mate Justin Mcdonald and Honda for taking home the MX1 title as well.
Big thanks to Team manager Shayne King and my mechanic Deano for building my bike. I always felt confident and new I had the best gear out there.
Thanks to all our team sponsors, to all the Clubs and there sponsors. It was great to see you still supporting motocross in these economic times.

Regards

Michael Phillips

For those that have nothing to do on Saturday the 5th of December the Rotorua Club is celebrating there 60th anniversary and is having a grass paddock ride up at the Motocross track followed by a bbq and marque. All makes and sizes of bikes welcome. See you there

John Phillips – 2009 Demon Energy MX Nationals (Round 3)

Morgan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:42:26 +0000

Event: Round Three of the NZ Senior MX Champs
Location: Pateotonga MX Track near Morinsville
Date: 8th November 2009
Class:MX 2
Bike: CRF250R
Track Conditions: Hard pack
Weather: sunny
Result for day: 10th
Championship standings: 8th

Practice: Went well, I had a good look around and found some good lines. Qualifying: wasn’t too good I put a couple fast laps in but wasn’t felling that great, I qualified 14th

Race one: Got off to a mint start and came around the first corner in second behind Kawasaki rider Nick Saunders. A few corners later I got passed by my brother Michael and soon after by Peter Broxholme. I held fourth for about half the moto but I couldn’t hold off a charge from Suzuki’s Scott Columb and a couple laps later Rhys Carter passed me also. I jumped back up to 5th when Michael had a crash. It was short lived as Michael came flying through the pack and passed me. I finished the race in 6th.

Race two: I spun off the gate and had to push through the pack. I was in 17th after the first lap and managed to push through to 12th by the 6th lap. I rode the rest of the race in 12th as I couldn’t make time on the rider’s in front of me.

Race three: I got an ok start and was up into 10th after the first lap. I managed to push my way into 8th and was feeling good but about halfway through the moto Carter got by me again. I battled with Carter for the rest of the moto but couldn’t make the passes stick. I finished the race in 9th. Big thanks to my mechanic James and parents for there support. Also to all the other sponsors that get me out on the track. We have the 4th and final round this weekend in Taranaki. I like this track and have done well on it before. I’m looking forward to a solid top ten result and hopefully lift my placing in the championship. Thanks for your support

Regards
John Phillips

Michael Phillips – 2009 Demon Energy MX Nationals (Round 3)

Morgan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:28:55 +0000

Event: Round 3 NZ Motox Championships
Location: Patetonga Motocross track, Central North Island
Class: MX2
Bike: Honda CRF250
Track conditions: Fast clay track
Weather conditions: Fine and sunny
Overall for the day 1st
Series Standings: 1st

After having a 3 week brake and getting settled back into NZ life it was time for the 3rd round. This time the track was new to the series and not one that had been used as a National track before.
It was a hard clay track that they had ripped and watered so in practise it was a little slippery and muddy but we all new by the time the first race came around it was going to be perfect.
Qualifying went good and I put down the fastest time and qualified first.

Moto 1 I didn’t get off the gates good at all and had to push my way through on the first few corners. By the 2nd lap I had the lead and started pulling away. Team mate Peter Broxholme stayed with me a few seconds behind but I wasn’t worried about him. About the 20min mark of the race I pushed the front a little to hard into a fast corner and went down. I got back on as fast as I could and got the bike going but had dropped back to 7th.
I road as fast as I could to catch up to anyone and by the time the finish flag came out I had pulled all the way up into 4th.

Moto 2 again I didn’t get off the concrete gate the way I wanted and had to push through the pack. I settled in behind Scott Columb and Broxholme and on the second lap I made the passes and didn’t look back. Columb kept me pushing the hole race but I didn’t let him get close enough to try any funny business.

Moto 3 I got off the line a little better and snuck around the inside and came out in front. I pushed hard the first few laps and pulled a little gap on the field. Columb settled into 2nd and it was a repeat on moto 2.
I found a few new line between races and they were working so I started pulling away a little. With about 5 laps to go a laper got in the way and I got tangled up for a moment. It wasn’t long but it was enough for Columb to catch right up. I was angry and turned it up a notch. I managed pulled a little gap and held it for the rest of the moto.

I felt good all day on the bike and was happy how the day went. A little disappointed with the first race as it would of given me a good points buffer coming into the last round but that’s how it goes. 3 rounds down and one more to go.
The final round is this weekend in Taranaki. Bring it on

Mike