MOTOPINION: TAURANGA MOTORCYCLE CLUB DAY MOTOCROSS
Over the weekend, I popped along to TECT Park, home of the Tauranga Motorcycle Club’s MX facility for Round 4 of their MX series. And what a day to be alive it was.
The last time I visited TECT Park was maybe 3-4 years ago for a practice day of some sort. The place was a pretty cool spot to ride and I had a good day cutting laps on some soft soil. Fast forward to March 2021 and the facility has blossomed into something that would rival even Digger McEwen.
TECT PARK
A little googling about TECT Park shows that the Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Tauranga City Council jointly purchased the Park in 2004, with the support of naming rights sponsor TECT (Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust) and Bay Trust. Opened on December 11 2010, the 1650 hectares known as TECT Park hosts a variety of user groups from shooting to Deerstalkers, Paintball and Airsoft, horses and walking. There are also motorsports, including model aircraft flying fields, 4x4 tracks and of course, the Tauranga MCC Club MX Facility.
Billy - the only guy filming during riders briefing.
I must first apologise with my lack of images as I spent the day enjoying the racing in two classes and chatting to the not so elusive, Billy ‘Elusiv’. If there is a thing to be recorded, an angle to get, a crash to be had, you can bet Billy will be involved.
The club have been lucky in securing the well-draining land, kinda in the middle of nowhere (meaning no noise issues) that now houses both a full National Level MX track, as well as a Mini track. But that’s about where the luck ends. Everything else about the facility has clearly come down to good decisions, hard work and a pride from the club members and committee at making the best place possible to cut some laps.
This recognition came to fruition, probably a little prematurely, by being crowned MNZ’s Most Improved Club of 2018. They should probably get it again after this weekend’s visit with the improvement to the facility incredible. The new (new to me at least) sign on building is perfect for a whole host of activities, not only sign on and storage. My only suggestion would be check your clearances upon approach of the roller door.
For this years’ Junior Nationals, the club tidied up the track entrance area, installed some goo dfencing and gates, and added some easy-access slopes for riders and spectators which I liked too. Word around the pits is that the club wants to hold a round of the NZ MX Nationals soon – maybe even next season. And after my day there I do not see why they wouldn’t get a good look-in.
On this particular day, the track was brutal. It cut up pretty good and never let off all day. The track was ripped super deep and watered accordingly. Unfortunately, the night before saw a decent amount of rain that pilled on top making for a tricky practice session. Though there was no actual mud to speak off which was surprising. The soil is a mixture of what looks like sand and dirt, and it loams ups like you wouldn’t believe. There must have been about 4-5 line options in each corner making racing really fun.
We didn’t have the rider numbers to smooth out some of the straights, so the only breaks in the track were on the face of the jumps and while in the air. It’s good to note that even I could do all the jumps with ease so you can too. With MX Nationals coming up in Auckland, the Puke Club had their last practice day before the event, meaning rider numbers for this event were down compared to normal. Usually, the gates are well packed and pits bursting at the seams.
There is a real good chance that I’m gonna be back to TECT Park for more with the Tauranga Motorcycle Club. If I had to put a percentage on it, I’d say about 101%. Coincidentally, speaking of the 101 – Ben Townley is the Club President and along with his committee members ran a flawless day of racing. A true champion gives back to the sport that gave him everything. BT is a true champion and a great asset to the club. Bout time to move that BT banner at Digger McEwen to TECT Park I reckon.
Cheers to the club for a great day out on the bike. seriously get along if you can and check out what the club have build over the past few years. I’m Looking forward to the next one.