Pukekohe Festival
• 6-7 February, 2021 – Pukekohe Park Raceway, NZ
In the immortal words of Fred Dagg (aka. John Clarke), ‘We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are!’ To have a weekend of such high quality and interest, freely accessible to mingle, listen to and make contact with some of the great names of classic motorcycle building and racing is indeed, at this time, a privilege not to be taken for-granted.
Although the organising committee would have been holding its collective breath in the days leading up to the event because of the risk of lastminute cancellation, their brave decision to proceed with planning as normal in this Covid era for this, the 42nd NZ Classic Racing Register Festival in 2021, paid off big time with a resoundingly successful event over the Waitangi/New Zealand Day weekend.
A successful track day on Friday, supported by a good number of entrants preceded the main event. Recent changes in the venue administration helped things to run smoothly and the public area crowds that turned up were all that could be expected, with great numbers of tents and motor homes lining the vantage points along the tree-shaded skyline overlooking the course. The number of bikes in public parking, spectators in the grandstand and foot traffic through the pits and around the various club and proprietary displays were indicative of renewed interest in the sport and how it is presented. An event publicity poster and tee-shirt featuring aircraft and race bike were a resounding success with the public, the tees being available in three colours. Saturday’s evening entertainment had the young and indeed, some of the not-so-young occupied into the small hours, whilst the racing itself was, of course, up to its normal ‚
very high standard with thankfully only one injury requiring treatment. Even the weather played its part all weekend, nicely warm but with sufficient cloud cover to keep the worst of the summer sun’s rays at bay.
Pit Lane at Pukekohe extends along a good half kilometre of the track infield and was lined both sides with one of the greatest collections of racing exotica that any enthusiast could hope to see. In one short stretch alone could be found a dozen immaculate Ducati racers from throughout their model eras, as many again pristine Manx Nortons of various ages and a clutch of G50s, 7Rs and other representatives of the golden age of racing. Fine examples of Aermacchi singles, Japanese multis of all descriptions, specials from the local workshops of McIntosh, Roberts, De Lacy and others as well as a couple of Harris machines, both Suzuki and Kawasaki variants, were there as a counterpoint to the always admired Brittens – a truly multimillion dollar display of the highest international standard and right there for you to admire or photograph.
The lack of international competitors in the current climate,whilst unfortunate, was more than offset by many representatives of a new generation of aspiring young riders who will gain immeasurably from the opportunity that has been given them to follow in the footsteps of our current and past champions. Amongst the mentors we can count Dennis Charlett, Steve
Bridge, Dan Mettam, Paul Pavletich, Dave Cole and Greg Smith among many others, all present to apply their knowledge and skills.
Around 250 riders brought along perhaps 350 racing bikes of all descriptions, fields for the more recent F2 and
F3 Post-Classic classes being well oversubscribed. Other classes too were better supported than in the recent past resulting in well filled grids.
During breaks in the racing, track demonstrations were given on the Britten and its Ducati-engined predecessor, Aero d’Zero, a couple of superb examples of Ducati’s Desmosedici and Superleggera models, as well as a well-presented Laverda F500 racer. These were complemented by an aerial display from Spitfire Mk.IX and P40 Kittyhawk WWII fighter planes which drew a multitude of eyes skyward for a few exciting minutes.
The racing itself left nothing to the imagination as Tyler Lincoln, David
Hall and Rogan Chandler battled it out on their Nortons, or when Greg Smith and Paul Pavletich were sometimes toe-to-toe in the tussle to chase up a dominant Dennis Charlett (aboard a McIntosh Suzuki Bathurst Replica) for F1 honours. In the sidecar events Robert Hood and passenger Graham Wilkinson were again in top form and successful once Halls/Chandler were out of contention, whilst Mark Smith and Dean Corrigan were worthy contributors to the podium.
There was no doubt in the 350cc group, where Zurrin Wiki rode an immaculate set of races to dominate entirely aboard Les De Lacy’s smart, high performing Aermacchi Ala D’Oro. Young Hamish Simpson on another
Ala D’Oro had much more of a tussle on his hands with a persistent Manxmounted Neville Bull, whilst Jason Leslie was a standout amongst the smaller Post Classic F2 and F3 entrants in their races.
The Register’s great collection of performance-related trophies were widely distributed amongst riders, whilst the Mechanical Excellence award went to Dave Kenah for his nice 30M Manx and the Engineering Excellence Trophy to Vince Sharpe for his smart looking RJS Special based on a modified 1972 Honda CB750 power plant. After all the excitement and drama of a wonderful weekend, homeward bound enthusiasts must have surely finally recognised ‘Just How Lucky They Are!