.gif)
Gordy Brookers race reports.
Earlier in the year Carol and I drove to Matata to the Honda 6 Hour again. This was fast and dry not like last year when it rained the entire race. This is half farm land and half forestry so suits most riders. They start you off in classes to help keep dust down. I won the ironman 40+ class and was 2nd overall the solo riders so that’s one of my best results.
A few months ago I drove to Woodhill forest and competed in the 3 hour dead toad race. This is race has been going for 39 years and is a great ride amongst the pine trees and mainly single tracks. Reuben and Adam do this race. They always get a good numbers at these races and I highly recommend you do this one. I rode well and managed to win my class again for the 4th year in a row. The locals don’t like me coming up as it is a large class and some guys have been trying to win it for years.
At the beginning of October we had the Tokoroa 6 Hour and this is another race around pine forests south of Tokoroa. This year I paired up with Darryl August and Suzuki gave us a trick bike so it was the first and last time I’ve been a factory rider. It was another shot gun start and all 84 bikes were away except the 85th bike which was me. My trick bike didn’t fire up.
Finally I was off dead last and not wanting to let my team mate down I went far above my comfort zone and ability and had a big crash trying to pass another bike. Badly bruised and 2 cracked ribs I continued and past 34 bikes in the first 54 minute lap and another 12 in second lap.
Darryl hopped on and said He’ll only do one lap as he wasn’t fit. I got patched up did another 2 laps and then Darryl finished for us.We ended up 39th overall and 3rd in Class. Bit disappointing but [censored] happens. Little painful too.
November 2nd was the Acerbis 4 hour just above Taupo. This is nominally a very tough race which whoops out and square edged pumice soils. This year was no exception. I wasn’t sure if I could ride with cracked ribs or not as I hadn’t ridden since my 6 hour crash. Thought I would start and see how I felt, so I lined up along side about 220 bikes. Hands on heads and shotgun start and everyone heading to the trees where you can imagine the bottle neck. I was 4th row back so 10 minutes into the race a few people got stuck on a hill and no-one else could get past anywhere. Lost 8 minutes there and had to ride my [censored] off until the end. I managed to win the 45+ class again for the 2nd year and had some awesome lap times for an old fart.
Submitted by Gordy
