Mercer Club Day Report
Monday 17 June: Sharon Cox reports. I stayed home in front of the fire and caught up on 4+ hours of Isle of Man TT highlights off My Sky.
Pukekohe Motorcycle Club
welcomed a rare sight - Ben Townley Honda competing at Mercer Sand Track opening Club Day, yesterday Sunday June 16th.
With BT’s recent
announcement of retirement from professional racing, the 2007 AMA Supecross
Lites East Coast Champion and 2004 MX2 World MX Title holder put skills to the
test over the new sand track layout.
With 117 rider’s racing
plus spectators, BT spoke highly of track preparation by founding and life
member Tony Cooksley with support from Scott Willis.
Ben Townley
BT101 said; "The track was
prepared the best I’ve ever seen it, the double berms were good and ripping it
worked really well."
Weather deteriorated
heading into Moto 2 making slushy conditions challenging across all classes. Yet, PMCC and riders are
fortunate to have Mercer Sand track for use in winter.
BT101 agrees "It’s a good
winter track and even with the amount of rain yesterday we were still able to
race motos which was great. It gets pretty rough and the club seems to run
decent length motos which is good for National Classes."
Blake Gillard
Yamaha’s Blake Gillard was
equal in praise; ‘"Loved it, the track flows so much better, the double berms in
4-5 corners were spot on and its awesome having the track spring-tined with a
lot more lines forming, making for much better racing. Mercer’s always been a good Winter track but this year’s
a big step up. When I lived in northern Germany everything within 100kms were
sand tracks so I rode plenty. I’d definitely rate the new Mercer, on point with
the best I’ve ridden’.
Giving rider’s and all a
glimpse of a Champion on the track, BT is; "Enjoying low key riding, in no
rush for what’s next and will see what happens."
Dion Picard
Then the heavy rains came.
Tony Cooksley - don't be thrown by the letter 'R' - he's wearing a spare Rhys Carter jersey from last year's MXoN.
Damien King
Copy: Sharon Cox Photo Credit: Phil Smith of http://clmintiepix.photoshelter.com/