—Â Challenging conditions at Auckland Motorcycle Club Round Two
Blustery winds and showers brought challenging conditions for riders at Round Two of the Auckland Motorcycle Club summer series on Saturday at Hampton Downs. Two rounds of racing were completed, along with a third race for Formula Auckland, before a heavy shower called an end to the meeting; some reprieve for the hard-working marshals who had braved the elements for the full day.
In Formula Auckland, Jaden Hassan was not present and there were three different race winners on the day – David Hall, Brendan Holland and Matthew Drayson.
It was John Houben however, with three second placing, who has moved to the top of the overall points.
David Hall could likely have had that spot after a win in Race One, but he fell at turn two on the final lap of Race two whilst leading, and did not start the final race also as a result.
Consistency was the key to the day – the conditions favouring the cautious.
Formula 2 saw Daniel Mettam scooped the day with a pair of wins and a second. Smooth riding in difficult conditions also moved him to the F2 points lead overall, by 12 from Toby Summers.
Superlite (F3) is the class to watch this season, with four riders – Glen Orwin, Gavin Veltmeyer, Doug Stockwell and Neil Martin – finishing in this order on overall points after the day, with only 14 points between them. Martin and Stockwell took the wins in the two races held.
There was controversy in Race One of the Hyosung Cup as a number of riders missed the dummy-grid call and failed to take the circuit before pit lane was closed; Nathanael Diprose and Fergus Maynes amongst those affected.
No such issues for Craig Stephens however. Ninth overall in last year’s Series, he took both wins to move into the points lead – just one point ahead of Veltmeyer.
Many of the Hyosung runners also compete in Prolite 250, and Fergus Maynes took the win in the only race held on the day. He joint-leads the points with Richard Martinson.
In ProTwin 650 Royd Walker-Holt had a high speed fall at turn two in qualifying, but came back to take victory in both races, and a healthy 29 point lead over Neil Martin in the overall points.
Nick Kampenhout has the ProTwins Senior points lead on his Husqvarna 900.
Other highlights came from the Post Classics, with their usual big field.
Paul Pavletich continued on where he left off at Round One, with two more wins in Pre 89 Senior.
Following him in the points is AMCC Club Captain Paul Webb on his FZR 1000.
Pre 82 Senior saw AMCC Life Member Vince Sharpe out on his mint CB 1100 Honda, but Russell Barker holds the class points lead on his GSX-1100.
Another Life Member, Trevor Taylor, has five wins from five to head Pre 82 Junior from Guy Webster; while class stalwart Scott Findlay heads Pre 89 Junior on his familiar ZXR400.
— Points: Formula Auckland (F1)
86 John Houben
75 Jaden Hassan
75 Matt Drayson
— Points: F2
130 Daniel Mettam
118 Toby Summers
68 Steve Bridge
— Points: Superlite (F3)
96 Glen Orwin
89 Gavin Veltmeyer
87 Doug Stockwell
The next meeting for the AMCC Club Series is at Hampton Downs on Sunday 1 December, at Hampton Downs.
The 2013-2014 Series is being promoted and organised by the Auckland Motorcycle Club, who would like to acknowledge the support of Red Baron Motorcycles, Motomail, and Bikesport Ltd.
CALENDAR – 2013-2014 AMCC Club Series
Rd 1 Hampton Downs 22 Sep, 2013
Rd 2 Hampton Downs 12 Oct, 2013
Rd 3 Hampton Downs 01 Dec, 2013
Rd 4 Hampton Downs 01 Mar, 2014
Rd 5 Hampton Downs 16 Mar, 2014
Rd 6 Hampton Downs 06 Apr, 2014