MOKEY EATS HANDLEBAR AT CAMBRIDGE CLUB DAY
RUSSELL
BREAKS THROTTLE CABLE IN TARAWERA 100
MUDDY
WEEKEND FOR QUEENS BIRTHDAY MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
NEW
ZEALAND 4 STROKE CHAMPS - THUNDERCROSS 2000
NEW
ZEALAND JUNIOR CHAMPS - 4TH PLACE FOR MOKEY
MICHEAL
TO RACE NEW ZEALAND JUNIOR NATIONALS
TEAM
VR PERFORMS AT BEL RAY HARE SCRAMBLE
VINING
SONS PERFORM CREDITABLY AT TAUPIRI SUPERCROSS
Monday 26
June 2000
MOKEY EATS HANDLEBAR AT CAMBRIDGE CLUB DAY
Cambridge Motorcycling Club Day was held on Sunday. Matt was looking
forward to a good ride as he took last week off. He was racing in with
the Pro 125cc riders as well as the Expert 125cc class. Matt had a scorcher
of a start in the first race, ending up 3rd. He also went well in the
second race, gaining a 5th place. Everything fell apart in the last
race, with Matt falling off twice, first taking a tumble off the side
of the track into some gorse bushes. He then tried to catch up to where
he was, but took another tumble and hurt his hand in the fall. Mokey
competed in the Junior 125cc and the 13-16 85cc class. He was scorching
in the first race, but was a lot more cautious on the 125cc as the suspension
was giving him head-shake (It was set up for Matthew who’s heavier than
Mokey). He continued on, but got a flat tyre in the last 80cc race,
causing him to ride off track and borrow a smaller bike to finish the
race. In the final race of the day, the Junior 125cc, Micheal was leading
the pack into Wiki’s Cutting, but failed to make it out of it. He fell
off, the bike jumped up and smacked him in the face. This resulted in
Mokey leaving the track to visit the St Johns Ambulance paramedics who
treated him for cuts to his tongue, mouth, gums and chin. Not surprisingly,
he’s got a very sore mouth which is great for the rest of the family
as he can’t talk!! Continued in More News
Monday
26 June 2000
RUSSELL BREAKS THROTTLE CABLE IN TARAWERA 100
Russell competed in the Tarawera 100 cross country race on Saturday.
It was held at Kawerau on a 40km track, right outside his motel room.
Russell’s goal was to complete 4 laps as he had done 3 the year before.
All was going to plan and Russ was really enjoying the race until about
halfway through the final lap the throttle cable on his YZ400F broke.
There was no way he was going to give up, so with a bit of help from
a fellow competitor who helped him pull out the throttle cable a bit
more, he continued to race the final 20 kilometres by pulling the cable
out by hand!!! “It was bloody hard work!,” he said afterwards. “It added
on an extra half an hour to my time.” Russell finished 72nd overall
out of 240 riders, which he considered to be an excellent effort considering
his throttle cable broke. He finished 3rd for the day in the Veterans
40+ class. All in all Russell had a great days riding and he hopes to
have a bit better luck next year! Check out picture of Russ at the riders
briefing on Silver-bullet racing!
Monday
5 June 2000
MUDDY WEEKEND FOR QUEENS BIRTHDAY MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
The first Queens Birthday Weekend Motocross Champs in the new millennium
continued in the same style as 1999 - wet and muddy! Micheal debuted
on a borrowed CR125 for his first major championship meeting riding
in two classes. He is now riding in the 13-16 year 85cc class and the
12-14 year 125cc class. The day dawned fine, but looked as if it would
pour down any moment. And sure enough, the rain bucketed down in the
third round, making it exciting racing in the wet. The spectators never
knew who was going to take a tumble next! Mokey still managed to ride
well, despite the weather and the fact his CR80 wasn’t working properly.
He gained a 3rd in the first race, and then 2nd in the next two races
in the 13-16 year 85cc class. His first meet on the 125cc was also respectable,
with two 4ths and a 3rd. Unfortunately the track became very dangerous
for the younger classes, forcing the fourth and final round of races
to be cancelled. Micheal had this to say about the days racing. “I was
riding into huge puddles with hidden ruts that slowed me down. It was
hard work riding but I really enjoyed the day. The 125cc was heaps better
to ride, my Honda 80cc bike seems so gutless!” Micheal ended up getting
2nd overall in the 13-16 85cc, and 4th overall in the 12-14 125cc class.
Sunday was race day for the Seniors, with Matthew competing in the Expert
under 200cc class and Russell in the Veterans class. The rain wasn’t
as bad as the day before, but as Matthew explained, “just enough to
piss you off.” The Sunday before the meet Matt blew up his CR125, doing
$1500 worth of damage and resulting in him having to borrow a bike for
the Queens Birthday Champs. Matthew was in third position in the first
race and everything was going well until he passed second place and
over-jumped the table top, crashing out in style. He had lost two places
by the time he was on the bike again, finishing the race in 4th position.
After that the day got worse. He had a bad start in the second race
and ended up in 6th place, and in the final race he had a shocker, falling
off many times in the wet and came 10th. These results gave him 7th
place overall for the meeting. He felt he did okay considering he was
riding a borrowed bike, but would have preferred to have been in the
top four. Russell fared better on his YZ400 in the mud, gaining a 2nd,
3rd and a 4th in his three races. He was actually tied for 2nd place
after the days racing but came 3rd on a points count-back when the person
who he was tied with beat him in the final race. Team VR had a great
weekends racing in the wet, with three more trophies for the cabinet.
Good luck to Liz who has all the wet and muddy motocross gear to wash
afterwards!
Monday
24 April 2000
NEW ZEALAND 4 STROKE CHAMPS - THUNDERCROSS 2000
Over Easter weekend the New Zealand 4 Stroke Champs were held at Waipu
Cove. The track was perfect both days and Team VR reported there was
awesome riding and fierce competition displayed. Micheal rode in the
12-16 years 0-250cc class. He had a really great two days riding, on
a borrowed 2000 XR250. He hole-shot almost every race, and won three
of the four races on Saturday, coming second in the other one. Sunday
was just as good, and he enjoyed more great placings. At the weekends
end he was named the number one 12-16 year 4 stroke rider in the country!
For his efforts he was given a front plate with #1 on it for when he
next competes on a four stroke. Matt competed in the hotly contested
0-250cc Enduro and Trail class. He had a bad day on the Saturday as
he wasn’t used to the bike, but was getting 5ths, 6ths and 7ths on the
Sunday, to finish 7th for the weekend. He enjoyed the ride on a borrowed
XR250. “It makes you appreciate your own bike a lot more!”, he said.
Russell had a good time racing in the Veterans 40+ class. He had a terrible
day on Saturday, but lying in 13th position after the days racing, but
on Sunday he picked up twice the amount of points he got the day before,
having a really good days racing. He ended up 8th overall.
Monday
17 April 2000
NEW ZEALAND JUNIOR CHAMPS - 4TH PLACE FOR MOKEY
The New Zealand Junior National Championships were held at Motueka,
in the northern part of the South Island over the weekend. Racing was
held over three days from Friday to Sunday. Micheal qualified for the
pro class in his first race, winning his heat. He had two bad races
on the Friday, getting tangled with other bikes and having bad starts.
The riding was intense for such young talent, as spectators will testify.
Micheal kept plodding along, getting reasonable placings in the top
ten, enough to give him the title of being 4th in New Zealand in the
13-16 years 85cc class by Sunday’s end. “The top three were far and
away better than me and there was no way I could catch them.” He was
really pleased with his riding, as he’s improved 6 rankings over last
years results.
Wednesday
12 April 2000
MICHEAL TO RACE NEW ZEALAND JUNIOR NATIONALS
The Vining family is off to Motueka for the New Zealand Junior Nationals
today. They’re travelling down by car to Wellington and heading over
to the South Island by ferry. Results will be handy next week. Date:
Monday 13/3/00 MICHEAL 2ND IN JUNIOR NORTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS Mokey
went into the final round of the three round Championships in second
place behind Mason Phillips. After falling off his dad Russell’s bike
during the week whilst practicing and spending a bit of time in the
A & E clinic getting his grazes cleaned up, Micheal was feeling pretty
sore. With Patetonga not being one of Micheal’s favourite tracks, it
seemed that Micheal was just too far behind to catch the scorching Phillips.
He went 5 - 1 - 3 - 5 in Saturdays racing, in spite of falling off during
practice and taking a gouge of flesh out of his calf with his foot peg.
Another trip to the A & E clinic on Saturday night, and Mokey was back
racing again on Sunday with 7 stitches in his leg. The days racing was
mixed, with placings of 3-7-1, but it was good enough to hold onto second
place in the Championship.
FINAL PLACINGS 13-16 YEARS 85cc
1 Mason Phillips 361 points after three rounds
2 Micheal Vining 329 points after three rounds
3 Jaden Gray 273 points after three rounds
Sunday
20 February 2000
TEAM VR PERFORMS AT BEL RAY HARE SCRAMBLE
Team VR’s riders all rode extremely well over the three rounds in the
series. Matthew rode in the Intermediate Under class in his first hare
scrambles in the senior ranks. He gained 2nd place overall with three
great rides. Bad luck in the last round prevented him taking out the
class. Whilst leading his class an hour into the 2 hour race he got
a flat tyre. After the pit crew fixed the tyre he rejoined the race,
but he was too far behind to pick up many more points. Russell rode
really well, finishing all three rounds WITHOUT a flat tyre. He was
pleased with his 6th place in the Veterans 35+ class considering he
didn’t enjoy the tracks too much. Micheal won both the first and second
rounds in the 12-14 Under 85cc class, but got a flat tyre in the final
round leaving him a lap down on the leaders. He gained 4th place in
the last round and got 2nd overall, losing by 1 point. The boys were
pleased with their efforts and look forward to the 2000-2001 series.
January
2000
VINING SONS PERFORM CREDITABLY AT TAUPIRI SUPERCROSS
Matthew and Micheal raced well in the final round of the New Zealand
Supercross Champs. Both had decided not to compete in the round at Tokoroa,
saving themselves for the faster track at Taupiri. Matthew, racing in
his first ever supercross event, raced in the Support 125cc class. He
enjoyed three great races, including a third place in the first race
of the evening, and getting the holeshot before being boxed out on the
first corner in another. He ended up 4th overall, not bad for a first
timer. Micheal competed in the 13-16 year 85cc class, getting 9th in
the first race after coming third at one point before crashing over
the end of the finish line table top jump, a 1st in the second race,
and a 4th in the last for a placing of 3rd overall. He teamed up with
fellow Honda rider Jaden Gray for the Pony Express, going up against
the Yamaha-Yamaha pairing of Mason Phillips and Nicholas Saunders. The
Yamahas took out the honours, but not before the two Honda boys gave
them a shake up. A great nights racing was enjoyed by both boys.
