TEAM
VR ON FORM AT WAIKATO CHAMPS
MICHEAL
RULES AT ROUND ONE OF JUNIOR NORTH ISLAND CHAMPS
MICHEAL
CLEANS UP AUSSIE RIDERS
MICHEAL
TO CONTEST AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR NATIONALS
BAD
LUCK DOGS MICHEAL’S JUNIOR MOTOCROSS NATIONALS
Wednesday
17 October 2001
TEAM VR ON FORM AT WAIKATO CHAMPS
The Waikato Champs were held near Te Kuiti over the weekend of Saturday
13 and Sunday 14 October. Micheal competed on the Saturday and continued
the sensational form he showed the week before at the North Island Junior
Motocross Champs, charging to three wins from three starts to take maximum
points and the win in the 15-16 years 125cc class. What is most surprising
is that Mokey didn’t holeshot any race - he would start back in the
pack in about 7th position or so after the start of each race, but showed
an incredibly cool head to tactically pass the riders in front of him.
Matt raced Sunday in the 0-200cc Expert Unders. Unfortunately Matt’s
bike broke down during practice and no-one could figure out what was
wrong with it. Matt didn’t have time to borrow a bike from anyone else,
so he had to sit out the first race. He was not a happy boy, having
to watch his class racing without him! Luckily he was able to borrow
a bike to ride from another rider and competed in the next two races.
He won both races easily giving him 40 points and 5th place for the
day. Team VR supporters could only wonder where he would have placed
if his bike hadn’t broken down and he had raced the first race. He could
have easily won the class if it wasn’t for his bike. Talk about bad
luck - but thats racing!
Tuesday
9 October 2001
MICHEAL RULES AT ROUND ONE OF JUNIOR NORTH ISLAND CHAMPS
The first round of the North Island Junior Motocross Champs were held
at Motuiti, north of Foxton. The weather turned on varying conditions
to really test the 130 riders competing, hot and sunny on the Saturday
and rainy on the Sunday. Micheal was riding his brand new 2002 CR125
for the first time, having bought it the Thursday before the Champs,
leaving him just enough time to break it in before making the 6 hour
journey down the line to Foxton on Friday. Micheals class, the 15-16
years 125cc’s, were missing Micheals main rival, Michael Phillips (KX125)
who was racing overseas. But Mokey knew that this was a great chance
to put some space between them - he put on an excellent performance
winning the first four of the five races. In his last race Micheal charged
from last place after a crash in one of the first corners to finish
second, with the winner Tinny Herrick in his sights and gaining. Micheal
gained 97 of the maximum 100 points he has a good lead going into the
next round of the champs, to be held in March 2002.
15-16 years 125cc:
1st Michael Vining, Taupiri, Honda CR125, 97 points.
2nd Robert Pascoe, Thames, Honda CR125, 81 points.
3rd Jay Robinson, Carterton, Honda CR125, 55 points
Tuesday
17 July 2001
MICHEAL CLEANS UP AUSSIE RIDERS
Micheal competed in the Australian Junior Motocross Nationals, held
near Maffra in the state of Victoria over the past week. His support
team included Mum Liz, Dad Russell and girlfriend Melissa. They took
over his CR125 engine plus his forks, spare parts and tyres. Friends
in Australia organised a CR125 frame for Micheal to use, plus got his
letter ‘V’ made up for his armour and number plates. They rebuilt the
bike at their friends house before travelling to the track which was
300 kilometres out of Melbourne in their hired campervan. The track
was free flowing, much like the Digger McKewen track at Taupo. Micheal
enjoys those types of tracks so it was no surprise that Micheal was
on form. Micheal cleaned up his heats easily finishing at least in the
top 5 consistently throughout his 3 heats, with his hot form showing
in his impressive starts and leading a couple of races before falling
off! He qualified in sixth position out of 58 riders and continued his
awesome form in the 3 finals. He gained third place in the first final,
for which he gained a medallion. In the second final Micheal was in
4th position when he crashed and the Victorian mud clogged up his kickstart
so he couldn’t get his stalled bike to start. Unlike New Zealand where
a parent trackside can help the rider in trouble, Micheal had to try
and fix his bike all by himself, according to Australian rules. He finally
got it started, but crashed and landed over the handlebars. But Micheal
was determined to gain points, and so he kept going and managed 3 points,
not bad for an unlucky race! In the third and last final he came in
third place for a placing of 5th overall in Australia. Micheals bike
was looking a little worse for wear after the five days racing as in
Australia you cannot use race gas (or Aviation fuel) to run your bike
on - the petrol must be standard. The piston in his bike was beyond
repair because of this. Luckily Micheal didn’t have another race as
his bike would not have gone the distance! The Vining family really
enjoyed their Australian motocrossing holiday. Both Russell and Liz
found the Australian Junior Nationals to be an eye opener as it is run
completely differently to New Zealand motocross championships. They
were happy to give Micheal a chance to race in a different environment
to what he is used to.
Friday
4 May 2001
MICHEAL TO CONTEST AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR NATIONALS
The Vining family are planning to travel to Victoria, Australia in July
to watch Micheal compete in the Australian Junior Motocross Championships
2001. It will be held over 5 days (10-14 July) and Micheal will race
in the 15 years 125cc class. The main issue to sort out is how to get
Micheal’s motorbike and all his motocross gear to Australia. There are
many differences in racing in New Zealand and Australia. For one, Micheal
will race only one ten minute race per day of the championships - in
New Zealand Micheal is used to racing three 20 minute races in one day.
It will be the last chance Micheal can compete in the Junior ranks in
Australia as riders go up to Senior when they turn 16, as opposed to
17 in New Zealand. More information will be posted as it comes to hand.
Monday
30 April 2001
BAD LUCK DOGS MICHEAL’S JUNIOR MOTOCROSS NATIONALS
Micheal competed at the Junior Motocross Championships held at the Patetonga
Motocross circuit over the weekend of the 7-9 April. It was Micheals
first outing in the 15-16 years 125cc class on his CR125 after gaining
2nd place in the North Island Junior Motocross Champs in the 12-14 years
125cc. He was also racing in the 13-16 years 85cc class for the last
time. Racing took place over three exhausting days. Micheal qualified
for both classes on Saturday, but not without some drama when his CR125
caught fire in the pits! He rode his back-up bike in the practice round
whilst Russell and Craig (the Huntly Honda mechanic) worked hard to
fix the bike in time for racing. All weekend Micheal was dogged with
bad luck in the 80cc class. Despite bad blisters developing on his hands
on the first day, Mokey kept riding with his hands taped up thanks to
the ambulance officers at the track. He continually got bad starts due
to other riders T-boning him and crashes on the first corner, but he
battled on. He finally got a good start in one race and was running
3rd with three laps to go and gaining on the riders in front when the
gearbox in his Honda started to break. Micheal raced the rest of the
race in a high gear as he was too afraid to change down in case his
gears went. Because of this a few riders passed him and he finished
7th. In the 125cc class Micheal was a bit apprehensive as he was racing
in a new class, but gained confidence with every race until he was claiming
7th place in quite a few races. Each race was 20 minutes long and Micheal
was doing double the amount of racing as the other riders in his class.
Over the whole three days Micheal was on his bike racing for over 6
hours in total - and he finished every race he was entered in. At the
end of the weekends racing Micheal had placed 9th in the 13-16 years
85cc class and 15th in the 15-16 years 125cc class. Everyone in Team
VR was so proud of the way he didn't quit when things got a bit rough.
Micheal is looking forward to a well deserved break from Motocross for
a few months!
