New competition ups the temperature in round one

The 2016/2017 AMCC Bucket Racing Championship - Round 1

To see the event results, click here.

Round one kicked off with a grenade! 19 riders entered F4 A-grade on Sunday which just shows how much the pace has progressed in the last few years. About 10 of those riders recently made the jump from B-grade which is always encouraging to see. In the second race, everyone was running 31s or faster which shows how well A-grade pushes you along. Still, the pointy end continues to be sharpened with a few riders (no prizes for guessing who) skimming the bottom of the 29 second bracket. Fierce!

A few congratulations first. One, to Aaron Hassan and the Morgan Engineering team who after a string of national level 'ring in' riders and loads of development, finally took the the maiden #63 win in race 1. Aaron also set the F4 pole position time and swung his dagger well in the 'knife fight in a phone booth' with Nathanael and Will. No easy task that! All of this on Darran's birthday too. Second congratulations to all the riders who set new PBs in the 30 second bracket, I believe there are a few of you. Now you just have to ride at the pace of those little 50s and you'll be onto something. Lastly, congratulations to the 'club bike' which chewed through over 10 litres of fuel on Saturday, almost not stopping at all and was crashed over 5 times. You deserve all the attention Henk's going to give you little feller.

Whilst it was a bit boring for me not to race in F4, it did give me a chance to excitedly watch the blood bath that was A-grade on Sunday. Aaron took out the win in race one in front of Nathanael and Will. Nathanael pulled out a 100% committed hail mary to get in front of Will in the dying laps of the race, otherwise they followed nose to tail, each dicing their way through lap traffic. The gap between Aaron and Nathanael on the line? 0.093 seconds! Seriously impressive riding. There was no stuffing around in race two as Nathanael cemented his position in the front with ELEVEN out of twelve laps in the 29 second bracket. You sir, deserved that win. Aaron picked up second 2.6 seconds behind and Will followed 3.5 seconds behind Nathanael. You all need to run gopros so we can re-watch these prison fights!

F4 B-grade looked a bit skinny with half the field taking a punt in A-grade but good racing was had none the less. Shane, Pete, Daniel and Paul fought a tough one. Shane rode a little too well and dipped under the B-grade cut off time in race one meaning he had a lap cut from the records. Hard luck shane. Pete wasn't far behind however and his consistency got the better of the young whipper snappers on his heals. Shane refined his times in race two and ran right down to the B-grade cut off time with a 32.089 to take the top step.

F4 C-grade continues to entertain with huge enthusiasm all round. Good to see a number of riders are now regulars and it's just matter of time before the times drop.

I rode an excessive amount of laps on Saturday preparing and I took absolutely everything I had to Nathanael in F5 on Sunday. I managed to get pole position which is 1/3 the battle but couldn't convert it. I crashed in race one whilst still holding onto hopes lap traffic would hold him up but it wasn't meant to be. Rick also went down in race one, probably due to his plastic tyres. My rhythm was broken and I got dropped in race two, finally placing second to at least take some points from the weekend. I was chuffed thinking I also at least had the fastest F5 lap of the weekend too but that wasn't meant to be either, Nathanael got me by 0.004s with a 30.204 lap. Damn. Must try harder. Only half a second separated Rick, Mark and Brian in race two showing how close the racing can be across the field. Rick finally picked off the final step on the podium and placed second overall for the weekend. Maybe I shouldn't sort out those new tyres for you Rick.

Aida and Will threw down the gauntlet to Henk and Rick in the sidecar races which lead to some pretty nail biting passing. Aida and Will ran off the track in race one but came back strong in race two to take the win. One a piece with Henk and Rick. Meanwhile, I think you could see the smiles of Karl and Veronica from space!

Photos of the racing over the weekend from Simon and Chris Cain can be found here. Paul Byrne also posted some stunners on the FB page here. Thanks Paul.

To see the current results of the F4 championship, click here.
To see the current results of the F4 B-Grade championship, click here.
To see the current results of the F4 C-Grade championship, click here.
To see the current results of the F5 championship, click here.
To see the current results of the Sidecar championship, click here.

Tight battles close 2015/16 AMCC Bucket Racing Championship

The 2015/2016 AMCC Bucket Racing Championship Final - Round 8

To see the event results, click here.

A massive congratulations goes to Nathanael Diprose for again taking out both AMCC F4 and F5 class wins this season. With 12 out of 16 race wins in F4, and 15 out of 16 race wins in F5, his consistency and dominance is hard to argue with. Of the 32 points races in the season, Nathanael suffered only one DNF. The machine development and seat time put in by Team Diprose over the years clearly show in the results and it's this level of riding and preparation which continues to set the bar.

Finishing on the podium in 14/16 races, 2 race wins and 7 second places, Will Ford fought hard to take 2nd place in the F4 championship. Solid riding Will, huge steps made this season. Pushing hard as always on a FXR150 among the gaggle of GP chassis, Henk Zeeven took 3rd place. A strong result from the fighting veteran. It's worth pointing out that both Ryan Fletcher, Dylan Bryne and Steven Lee progressed from C and B grades through to A grade to make their marks in the field this season. Always great to see riders making huge progress in a season, good riding guys.

It was good to see some really solid numbers in the AMCC B grade with 35 riders taking points this season. Clearly the field is growing strongly with a number of riders breaking into A grade later in the season. Once again, consistency wins championships and it was Warrick Head who took out/burgled B grade with 8/16 race wins for the season. Closely followed was Jay Leahy with 2nd in the championship who has made large steps this season. John Steer picked up 3rd place after a season of tight battles in this field of eager racers. Brief appearances on the podium from a number of riders in the two classes show there is some pace hiding in the field. Hopefully we'll see the continued pace into the new season and some fresh faces taking out the rounds.

F4 C grade was also hotly contested between Will Foster, Terrene Gibson and Liam Venter with Will coming out on top to take the win. Brian Read and Fabiano Pavia Santos made a few appearances on the C grade podium showing there are some close races still to come.

Dominic Howe Memorial Trophy race

This year's trophy race in honour of Dominic Howe was not meant to be. After being postponed last month due to low turnout numbers (weather influenced), the delayed race only got through one half of the 40 lap race before needing to be red flagged. A turn from dry to wet part way through saw a handful of riders all down at the start of the second half. With limited time left in the day and rain pouring down, the remainder of the race was called off. Results from the first half here. Congrats to Nathanael, Rod and Henk for taking the podium results. It was clear the 20 deep field had some close battles throughout.

Kick off for 2016/17

That's it for the 2015/2016 AMCC Bucket Racing season. The new season kicks off next month 9th and 10th of July at Mt Wellington. Reminder: don't forget to renew your MNZ Racing licence as processing day licences at the track is a terribly slow experience for all involved.

Photos of the racing over the weekend from Chris Cain can be found here. Paul Byrne has also posted some great photos on the FB page here.

To see the final result of the F4 championship, click here.

To see the final result of the F4 B-Grade championship, click here.

To see the final result of the F4 C-Grade championship, click here.

To see the final result of the F5 championship, click here.

To see the final result of the Sidecar championship, click here.

The 2015/16 AMCC Bucket Racing Championship — Round 6

Round 6 at Mt Wellington on Sunday 1st May 2016 showed consistency and precision are key in tightly fought F4 battles.

Nathanel Diprose. Photo: Jason Haselden, Alpha Imagery

The 2015/2016 AMCC Bucket Racing Championship - Round 6

Thanks to Nathanael for getting the results up on mylaps and also to our official time keeper Sam and her helper Josh over the weekend. I don't think people realise how much work goes into that, it's hugely appreciated!

To see the event results, click here.

Congratulations to Nathanael for taking out both points race wins. This makes 8 from 12 over the season. He is yet to have a DNF and is yet to finish off the podium. Solid racing dude! Your consistency and precision continues to challenge all of us chasing you! Some close battles up and down the A grade field between Rod, Will and myself, then Gary, Ryan and Kamil. Good to see you amongst it all in A grade Ryan, especially considering how long you've been riding.

Another big turn out for B and C grades which shows how popular F4 racing has become. Jay convincingly took out the first points race however Wil Killip was only 0.161s behind him in the second race after posting a 32 seconds flat fastest time. You're both surely on the cusp of moving into A grade? Close racing through out the whole fields of both B and C. It was hard to follow in the chaos but really entertaining.

The next round is the 21st and 22nd of May which is only a few weeks away. Please be aware there is a strong focus on reducing noise, particularly as we continue to see racers being kicked off tracks due to excessive noise (Ruapuna, Roys Hill, Te Puke etc etc). Do not be surprised if you are picked up from having too loud a bike, fix it now, no excuses at all.

No photos of the racing from Chris and Simon over the weekend with their hands full. Thankfully Paul Byrne and Jason Haselden were there taking some awesome shots. Paul Bryne's photos here, Jason Haselden's photos here.

To see the current state of the F4 championship, click here.

To see the current state of the F4 B-Grade championship, click here.

To see the current state of the F4 C-Grade championship, click here.

To see the current state of the F5 championship, click here.

To see the current state of the Sidecar championship, click here.