RACE: 2021 BATTLE OF THE TEAMS
Getting drafted into race the 2021 Battle of the Teams the week of was not only pretty cool, but also like WTF? The last time I raced MX was maybe a year ago, and last visit to the Taupo Motocross Track had been easy 5 years, but I wasn’t gonna let that stop me. After all - it’s for the kids.
Harry ‘The Hair’ Chizz and Blake ‘Look at my Stash Mom’ Herma were just a couple of the cool dudes you could have found hanging ten, under the Ocean Ford Whakatane Team pits.
So it all started when I got a message from Broxy asking if I wanted to race in the Battle of the Teams, as a friend of his was looking for a Vet rider. I contemplated the idea while I was keen deep in licorice, sitting on the couch watching reruns of Banshee on Neon. Great TV series by the way, starring Anthony Starr, the guy who played Van/Jethro from Outrageous Fortune. Anywho, so I contemplated some more and thought eh, why not…I wasn’t doing anything else on a Friday.
I actually was busy, but after getting the day off work we were locked in at heading to Taupo for some MX fun.
In case you don’t know how this race works, it’s similar to the Motocross Of Nations, where you have a team of riders and you ride against other teams in combined classes. So for example MX1 race with MX2, then MX2 race with vets, and then vets race with MX1. So everyone gets two races and everyone races each other. The team with the lowest points (calculated by your finish placing) at the end of the day wins.
Ayden Hall on the number 100 was our team’s 85cc rider and had plenty of raw speed right from practice with a third in timed practice and a 9th in the qualifying race. He then followed that up with a 19th in race one and an 18th in race two, against the much bigger 125 2T and 250F machines.
Charlie Schaw, riding a Yamaha YZ125 was our Junior 125 competitor and has a good practice time that he couldn’t transform into his qualifying race, finishing 17th, but posting a top 10 lap time meaning he must have had a bit of a tip-over. He made up for that in Race 1 though, with a stunning 9th place, which he followed up with a 20th in the tough shakedown against the 250F riders.
Our Mustache-e-oh man Blake Hermansen piloted his white lightening in the Junior 250 class and for our Ocean Ford Whakatane. He was actually the guy who drafted me into the team and for 16 years old he’s a bit of a giant. Blake would hover just outside the top 10 in his class all day but the kid looked to get a bit tired come the final race of the day. Though, his never-give-up attitude was infectious.
Working hard in the MX2 class was Harry ‘The Hair’ Chissell. The guys in MX2 don’t muck around, but he still managed to qualify 15th and pop in a sub 2 minute lap time. Harry posted respectable race results of 23 and 29, battling some of NZs best riders from around the country…below the Waikato that is.
Perhaps our golden unicorn, Tyler Steiner was our best chance to get on the elusive podium and he didn’t disappoint. The seasoned MX1 rider set a practice time of 3rd fastest, only behind Ben Townley and Rhys Carter, and then finished second in the qualifying race. This helped our team to have the 7th gate pick for the day.
But that’s where the shape went peared indeed as while racing for a podium position, Tyler had a bit of a to-do in the sawdust section and yard-saled down the track. He got up to finish 31st. Race two saw Tyler understandable a little ginger and finished 17th
No - not a picture of me but Brad Groombridge racing the Beta 300 at Battle of the Teams where he finished 7th in the final MX2/MX1 moto of the day.
Then there comes to myself - which I have no images of me but I was there - honest. Riding the Vets class I figured it was going to be an easy top 10, maybe even top 5. What a rude awakening that was for me as I discovered Motocrossers believe that Veterans start at 35! I couldn’t agree any less as I cried my way down the riders list as pro after pro after ex-pro had lined up for the fun event - I needed to remember that it was for fun and, you know, for the kids.
Cody Cooper, Broxy, Johnny Burkhart, Daryl Hurley, Scott Moir, Cam Negus - the list went on. I ended up qualifying 11th, so close to that top 10 I was dreaming about but I was happy with that. My first race didn’t go accordingly - and I went down on the first corner. I picked myself up and made it back to 26th and just got lapped by Cooper. Race two was only 20 minutes later and was better in the fact that I didn’t crash. I also bettered by finishing 23rd.
But most importantly I came away unscathed from the couch. Not a good day, a great day! And results - meh - it’s for the kids remember so Motorcross was the real winner of the day.
Cheers to Blake and the Ocean Ford Whakatane Team for being gracious and fun. Might start training now for next year - after I finish season 4 of Banshee!
There is a small gallery of images is available by CLICKING HERE.