Powerful farewell
Riders leave Pukekohe track with worthy last hurrah
Classic motorcycle racers and enthusiasts from all over Waikato, the rest of New Zealand and even the world roared a final farewell around Pukekohe Raceway at the 43rd Classic Motorcycle Festival last weekend.
More than 330 racers, including at least 40 from Waikato, competed on the historic motorsport track and drew in motorbike buffs from far and wide.
New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Racing Register (NZCMRR) president and Hamilton local Ken Mcgeady says the register, which held the festival at Pukekohe since 1980, can’t be “more pleased” about its final event at the track.
“It was crazy. The atmosphere was superb. It was the biggest crowd we had in 20 years. A worthy last hurrah for Puke,” Mcgeady says.
He couldn’t say exactly how many visitors the festival had over the three days yet as the organisers are still in the process of finalising a report.
The racing was the main part of the festival as racers from Paihia to Invercargill, from New Plymouth to Gisborne, and even the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden made their way to Pukekohe to compete on 458 bikes and side-cars built between 1920 and 1995.
The oldest bike to compete was a 1920 Harley Davidson, raced by Kerry Piggott of Papakura, but there was no doubt that a Kiwi-built 1962 Norton ES2 caused a lot of turned heads as well.
The Norton wrote history at the Isle of Man last year as it became the fastest single-cylinder motorcycle to lap the Isle of Man, ridden by Mike Browne of Ireland who also competed at Pukekohe last weekend.
Another crowd favourite was three of the iconic Britten motorbikes
which were on display at the festival and demonstrated on the track by Steve Briggs from Auckland,
Hamiltonian Andrew Stroud and Chuck Honeycutt from the US.
Stroud says riding the Britten on the Pukekohe track one last time was “pretty special”.
“There are lots of memories here. It’s the end of an era,” Stroud says.
Mcgeady says his highlight was a farewell motorcycle parade on Monday when the festival concluded.
“We did a loop cruise around the track with all riders that were racing. They saluted and raised their hands to say thank you to the [track] marshalls and spectators,” Mcgeady says. “Most of the guys were crying. It was very emotional.”
Pukekohe Park will close to motorsport activities because the owner, Auckland Thoroughbred Racing (ATR), has plans to further develop the site for their own purposes. The final motorsport event at Pukekohe Park will be on April 2.