After attending the two previous Pero Classic meetings a group made up of VJMC/Blue Haze members hatched a plan to make the trip south again in 2018. The group was made up of a race team and supporters. Dion Tornquist riding his Honda NSR250R and Kim Delatour as mechanic made up the race team .
Bruce Currie Suzuki GT750K,Barry Drummond Kawasaki Z1,Paul Clemos Honda 400 Bros , Ken Fraser Kawasaki 500 and Gary Wright Kawasaki GPZ100RX made up the supporters.
The group headed south on the Interislander Kaiatki 0900 sailing on Thursday 29th Nov. Once in Picton Kim and Dion with the race bike headed straight down SH1 to Timaru. The supporters headed down the Wairau Valley to Murchison and then onto Greymouth for the night. The weather was kind and the ride to Greymouth was done in fine wind free conditions.
The Friday morning dawned another fine day and the boys headed for Timaru via Arthurs Pass. A detour was made around the shores of Lake Brunner. A great ride but much of the road was unsealed . Gary found the GPZ unsuitable for the marbly surface and headed back to the safety of the sealed road. The rest carried on, the bikes looking like they had been in the Paris to Dakkar by the time the sealed Arthurs Pass road was re-joined.
Brunch was taken at the Arthurs Pass Café then it was onto Christchurch for a visit to the Mike Pero bike display. Well worth a look for those have not been there. It was then onto Timaru. The decision to go down SH1 was not a good one. The road between Christchurch and Ashburton was infested with road works and long stretches of road were limited to 60 or 30 km/h. Once clear of Ashburton the open road speed limit prevailed.
Digs in Timaru was at the Ashley Park Motel . The previous yeasr accommodation was at the Railways Welfare House . Unfortunately this has been sold which was a shame as it was ideal for a group like this.
Dion has a good practice day on the Friday and was looking forward to the commencement of racing on Saturday.
Saturday dawned cloudy with the forecast of 10% chance of rain. The rain did not eventuate. Dions bike was running well and each time out he reduced his lap times. He enjoyed the tussles with the riders in his section of the field.
The race classes had bigger fields than the year before so this boads well for the future of the meeting. The McIntosh Suzuki ridden by Denis Charlett was again the bike to beat and would have won the day if not for Denis mistaking the white flag for the chequered flag in race two and pulling into pit lane a lap to early. Dave Freeman picked up the silverware on his Suzuki GSX1100.
Kevin MacGee from Australia road his YZR500 GP bike in the Field of Champions parade. This was a seriously quick bike. There was also two nicely prepared TZ750s in the parade. The bike that was really setting the racing alive was a Honda RC125 ridden by Daniel Jenkins. This was an extremely well prepared and ridden bike.
Race day on Sunday again dawned overcast with a 20% chance of rain. There had been some showers overnight and the track was damp in places first up. The Race committee continued the meeting as a dry track, the correct decision as the weather stayed dry. Dions times continued to improve and the grin got bigger.
On the Saturday night we had a few drinks with Mike Howard one of the Blue Haze / VJMC members who had moved south to Timaru. Mike had three bikes in the display tent. A Suzuki GSX750, Suzuki GT750L and a lovely little TS50. Mike has been asked by several people to name his price for the TS50.
The group was all packed up and on the road for Woodend stop over by 4:00. The scenic inland route via Geraldine was taken for this leg of the trip. Another good ride.
Kim made a detour to Rangiora to visit Mike Stein and collect his new acquisition. A Yamaha TZR250 3MA.
Monday dawned grey and misty so the wet weather gear was put on for the ride to Picton .As it turned out apart from a couple of light showers before and after Kaikoura it was dry weather riding. The sun was blazing once we had cleared Seddon
Apart from Bruces GT having the main power wire separate from the ignition switch, luckily not when the bike was on the road, no mechanical dramas were experienced.
Everybody had a great weekend and plans will be made for another trip south in 2019.
Anyone interested email Bruce at currie.bandl@xtra.co.nz.
PS we may be taking more track bike in 2019.
