November 14, 2020 saw the annual Clay Classic click into gear as many of NZs top two-wheeled racers came together to work on their mental fitness and spend the day turning left…

Many of you may have seen the article ‘Flat Track is Back Jack’ that we featured early last year in April. At the time, Flat Track racing was making a bit of a resurgence in NZ, spearheaded by the late Sam Smith, and bandwagoned by Scott ‘I will race anything with wheels’ Wilkins. Before that, it was running under the radar, with Sam having built himself a track at his family home, as well as a bike suited to the oval style racing.

If you had not heard of the Clay Classic before then, you are probably not alone. In its infancy, it was just a bunch of good mates getting together, throwing their front brakes in the back of the van and banging bars while riding around in circles. A classic example of keeping that Mental Fitness in the green. Unfortunately, like a lot of incredible things in this world, the light only shines down after the darkest days.

“The Clay Classic started in 2015 (ish) by Sam Smith” explains Scott Wilkins. “He had built a small clay oval at his dad’s farm, and had started to get into the American style flat track. He had built a bike with 19 inch wheels and with the guys from ‘Engineered to Slide’ he ran the first event. It was pretty low key with no real racing or lap scoring, just a have a go day with some impromptu races at the end.

“Sam and I had started talking in 2019 about running it again, we had got the flat track class running at Rosebank by then, and more and more bikes were getting built. The goal was always to have it as a fun day, and grow the sport. After Sam took his life, I approached his family about running the event. They have been really supportive and we took the Mind Health Project on as a charity to fundraise for. It was a group that had helped Sam and the family a lot in the past with mental health.

“A group of his mates, including Craig Brown, Luke Ramsey, Dave Cole, Robbie Bennell, Blake Gillard, Tony Summers and myself got together to make it happen. The 2nd Clay Classic was a go and this time, we added some racing at the end of the day after a heap of practice runs. The racing was an all-in one-class affair and culminated in the Sam Smith Memorial Feature Race. Just over 30 bikes turned up for the qualifying races that would get them into the feature. The 15 lap feature was Won by Luke Ramsey, followed by Blake Gillard and then myself.

“For 2020 we wanted to keep evolving, and this turned more into a race meeting, with classes for the different bikes and quads, with the Mad Dog and Thunderbike classes added to the MX/Enduro bike classes to give the guys that want to build something special a place to race. We had 45 entries this year so are still growing at a big rate and for sure we will be back next year. As the Smith Farm is currently up for sale, there is a possible change of venue for 2021. And with Taupo Motorsport Park having put an oval in, and the South Island also growing in events, the future's looking bright for one of the oldest forms of motorcycle racing there is.”

“I guess for me my involvement in flat track is reasonably new,” Blake Gillard explains. “I’d known Sam since we were juniors and minis out at Harrisville. Then again in the mid 2000s we had some awesome battles racing Supermotard when the sport was taking off here in Nz. Fast forward to 2019 - Motocross nationals had just finished up - I saw Smithy posted on moto garage seeing if anyone wanted to ride his bike at a Rosebank club day. I gave him a buzz straight away and before I knew it, we were at Rosebank Rd that weekend racing the oval. Long story short I had a blast! I was never that interested in Flat Track, but I remember seeing Sam’s bike when he built it; sitting low and on wide 19” wheels it just looked epic! He asked me to race it again for him the following race day, which was the final for the season. Didn’t take me long to say yes...there’s just something about trying to hold a controlled side that takes me back to my teenage years driving my mum’s Isuzu Bighorn around round-abouts in the wet, kicking the ass out and peeling away with a massive grin on my face.

“Unfortunately, we all know what happened to Sam and it hit a lot of the boys and girls pretty hard. Sam was a hell of a top bloke. I remember sitting around a few weeks after the funeral talking with Luke Ramsey and a couple of the others and I decided then and there that I was done with motocross. I’m selling everything I have to do with dirt and I’m gonna build the best Flat Track bike I can. So did Luke. We wanted to carry on growing what Sam had started with Flat Track, and I guess if you put out an A+ build of a bike, then people take it serious and know you’re not just there to play around. Our builds took us each about 6 months (we both went way overboard), but the bikes came out great. And at the first “Sam Smith Clay Classic” since Sam’s passing, Luke finished 1st, myself 2nd and Scotty Wilkins 3rd.

“That event was really good. The numbers were awesome, the track cut up and got a bit too dusty, but we knew what we needed to do to make the next one better. Fast forward to this year. We had a huge off season with covid so I decided to strip the bike back and make some changes as a lot of the first build was guess work.

“Build up to the Classic was awesome. We had about 20 guys out at the track on Friday swinging weed eaters and putting up banners. Bob mowed the pits and gave the track a groom through the week. All that was left to do was the water. We decided to cut back a bit on the riding time this year and water and track-roll every round to try keep it in the window and from all the corners. Everyone seemed to love it and we avoided any dust. Racing that day was awesome.

Blake took the 2020 Clay Classic win in a great battle with Toby Summers that lasted the whole race. Just as much as Blake could not shake Toby, Toby could never make a move on Blake.

“I’m over the moon to get the win for sure. It’s nice to get my name next to Luke’s on a pretty special trophy and I’m excited to see the list of names that make it onto it in the next 10+ years.

“As nice as the win was, the turnout of bikes/people and the money raised was the big winner on the day. We got more bums on seats than last year. So many more purpose-built Flat Track bikes that they needed their own class, and an even bigger turn out in the MX class with guys wanting to just put the rear tyre on and have a go.

“The wheels are definitely turning for the sport which is exciting and I can’t say enough for how much work and time Scotty Wilkins puts into it - definitely the right bloke to have at the helm. Hopefully some bigger speedways are on the cards this season and there’s plenty of talk going on too so fingers crossed for what the future may hold for us.”

As mentioned earlier by Scott, The Mind Health Project became the charity that this event was to contribute. Their mission is to help cultivate resilience in people aged 13-23 years along with their families by offering group education, support groups and resources.

“Empowerment comes from teaching life skills so people can negotiate life’s challenges with tools and knowledge of how to support their own mind health. At the Mind Health Project, we aim to do things differently, to make a difference.”

They are a non-profit registered Charity (registration number CC57028) run by volunteers. They bring in guest speakers and facilitators from both traditional medicine and complementary therapies to run courses, workshops and support groups, offering resources on a wide variety of topics in a group setting.

Their Story

‘'The Mind Health Project is the brain-child of Megan Van Lieshout. Megan is passionate about improving the mind health of youth in the Franklin area.

Megan ran ‘Franklin Fight Night’ in 2018 to raise awareness of the challenges that face Franklin youth in the arena of mind health. We have lost too many of our young people to mental health and sadly the statistics are not getting any better. It felt like the right time raise funds for a new centre with the proceeds from the Franklin Fight Night going towards realising Megan’s dream of a dedicated centre for the education and support of the youth of Franklin and their families.

The Franklin Fight Night raised enough funds to lease a premises, revamp it and set it up as the Mind Health Project (MHP). MHP is run as a non-profit organisation which is in the process of becoming registered as a Charity with the Charities Services. All classes and support groups are free of charge, although koha (donations) are gratefully accepted. Fundraising is an ongoing aspect of the Mind Health Project committee to allow this amazing work to continue.

Head to https://www.mhpfranklin.org.nz/ for more information and don’t be afraid to reach out for help.

Mental health issues come in infinite forms. It looks sad, it looks happy, it looks confused, it looks peaceful, it looks depressed, it looks right at you and you don’t even know it. And it doesn’t discriminate no matter who you are or where you’re from. Some of the more apparent signs of mental health issues could be;

Excessive paranoia, worry, or anxiety.
Long-lasting sadness or irritability.
Extreme changes in moods.
Social withdrawal.
Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping pattern.

Mental Health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we act, feel and think. Look out for others, tell your family and friends you love them and always be available whenever someone calls. It’s the little things that could really make a huge difference in someone’s life.

If you want to know more about the Flat Track scene around the country, search for NZFT - New Zealand Flat Track on Facebook - join the page and get involved.

Sam Smith Images kindly donated by Carrie Smith.
Clay Classic images from Mad Love Media & Nikita Gillard Photography Facebook pages