A new recruit for KIWISTARS

[SWERVE]

After a successful national series with Seth taking runner up in the (prolite) 250 production class it was time for the team to find a new recruit for the mighty Ninja.
A young lad who had impressed me from the first day i saw him take to the track on a TZ50 was Baillie Perriton from Ashburton. During the last streetstock champs during the Sth Is national rounds he had continued to impress me and took top three placings and almost took a maiden win.
So i offered the 2012/13 season ride to him.. and was delighted when he accepted.
So a few weeks ago at King of levels Rd 1 he rode the 250 for the first time. It was probebly the worst weather conditions to introduce yourself to a new bike. But he qualified well on the 2nd row of 43 bikes. Race one saw him get a good start and was 4th into T1..... only to lose the front on the exit and end his first race sitting on the tyres.......... He was one of 16 who crashed that day (a new record)
Race 2 saw him a little cautious but he soon settled down and was rewarded with a 3rd in 250 production class.
Race 3 saw him gain a little more momentum and take a 2nd in class.
Still a off the pace of leading in the huge development class, bikes such as Cameron Hudson and the Hoogies etc.. but a good end to a day that started badly.

RD 2 - This weekend.
A fine day saw the pace increase and he qualified on the 4th row.
Race 1 saw him start to pick off a few scalps.............. but Amy Ross decided to try the inside line at the right-hander before hairpin and clipped his rear wheel sending them both off into the grass. So another DNF... Baillie was getting a little dispondent about another DNF... but we had a chat and decided to put it behind us.
Race 2/3 saw him get quicker thoughout the day...a better qualifying would have seen him with some intense racing with the other 250s who were a row or two ahead..... but he had to battle through the hoards of RGs and quicker buckets.
But overall very pleased with his performance so far (he crashes much softer than seth!!!)
Yesterday also highlighted a few differences for him ... after riding a 2 stroke KR 150 he will have to adopt some new habits and styles to get the most from the 250 4 stroke. Not going to highlight the exact things but a couple of us who are trying to bring through young riders shared instances yesterday..which teaches you never to assume.. and never stop preaching the basics.

Next weekend is a track day at Ruapuna and he will be getting more valuable seat time (Seth has promised to come and be mentor for the day) Then we have a busy September with 3 rounds in 4 weekends. Hopefully he will be right up to speed by the end of that..and we are planning to bring him and others to Taupo for the final VMCC round in Oct, so they can have some time on track before the national round. Hampton Downs round of the Tri series is also on the cards.

Well done young fella...... we now know whats got to be done.... proud of you and glad to have you & Dad on board.

PS. Good to see Mihi Banks making the trip down to Levels.. see rode well and seemed to be having a great day.
See all you Nth Is at next round of Winter series... coming up to spectate and check the competion.

[Billy]

After a successful national series with Seth taking runner up in the (prolite) 250 production class it was time for the team to find a new recruit for the mighty Ninja.
A young lad who had impressed me from the first day i saw him take to the track on a TZ50 was Baillie Perriton from Ashburton. During the last streetstock champs during the Sth Is national rounds he had continued to impress me and took top three placings and almost took a maiden win.
So i offered the 2012/13 season ride to him.. and was delighted when he accepted.
So a few weeks ago at King of levels Rd 1 he rode the 250 for the first time. It was probebly the worst weather conditions to introduce yourself to a new bike. But he qualified well on the 2nd row of 43 bikes. Race one saw him get a good start and was 4th into T1..... only to lose the front on the exit and end his first race sitting on the tyres.......... He was one of 16 who crashed that day (a new record)
Race 2 saw him a little cautious but he soon settled down and was rewarded with a 3rd in 250 production class.
Race 3 saw him gain a little more momentum and take a 2nd in class.
Still a off the pace of leading in the huge development class, bikes such as Cameron Hudson and the Hoogies etc.. but a good end to a day that started badly.

RD 2 - This weekend.
A fine day saw the pace increase and he qualified on the 4th row.
Race 1 saw him start to pick off a few scalps.............. but Amy Ross decided to try the inside line at the right-hander before hairpin and clipped his rear wheel sending them both off into the grass. So another DNF... Baillie was getting a little dispondent about another DNF... but we had a chat and decided to put it behind us.
Race 2/3 saw him get quicker thoughout the day...a better qualifying would have seen him with some intense racing with the other 250s who were a row or two ahead..... but he had to battle through the hoards of RGs and quicker buckets.
But overall very pleased with his performance so far (he crashes much softer than seth!!!)
Yesterday also highlighted a few differences for him ... after riding a 2 stroke KR 150 he will have to adopt some new habits and styles to get the most from the 250 4 stroke. Not going to highlight the exact things but a couple of us who are trying to bring through young riders shared instances yesterday..which teaches you never to assume.. and never stop preaching the basics.

Next weekend is a track day at Ruapuna and he will be getting more valuable seat time (Seth has promised to come and be mentor for the day) Then we have a busy September with 3 rounds in 4 weekends. Hopefully he will be right up to speed by the end of that..and we are planning to bring him and others to Taupo for the final VMCC round in Oct, so they can have some time on track before the national round. Hampton Downs round of the Tri series is also on the cards.

Well done young fella...... we now know whats got to be done.... proud of you and glad to have you & Dad on board.

PS. Good to see Mihi Banks making the trip down to Levels.. see rode well and seemed to be having a great day.
See all you Nth Is at next round of Winter series... coming up to spectate and check the competion.

Good onya mate,Hope it works out as well for you this season,If not better than last year,On another note,The young fellas worried cause he's crashed a COUPLE of times and you give him Seth as a mentor???????REALLY,What are you thinking hahahahahahaha!See you in a couple of weeks.

[puddytat]

Thats wonderful news Swerve, I had the pleasure of pitting next to him & his Dad a few times. When I last raced he was still on his 50 & then I saw on mylaps that he was doing very well on a streetstock.....
At an endurance race a few years back he crashed in sympathy for me & Seth on the same corner but unlike me he got going again.Seth if I remember correctly went out later on a 1098 & promptly did 1:40.
I did promise to send him my copy of Twist of the wrist (Bailie) but we didnt get to exchange addresses so if he still wants it its here...pm me his details if he does.
Also please give my regards to both Baillie & Damien, & Seth too, from that fella from Murchison.

[RDjase]

Good stuff mate ! Baillie is a great young man and a fast rider, really enjoyed the South Island Nats rounds and Damian and Baillie's company. Tyler and the Perriton duo had some great battles in SS150, both of them used our spare KR too lol

Look forward to seeing you at Taupo

[SWERVE]

Good onya mate,Hope it works out as well for you this season,If not better than last year,On another note,The young fellas worried cause he's crashed a COUPLE of times and you give him Seth as a mentor???????REALLY,What are you thinking hahahahahahaha!See you in a couple of weeks.
I wondered who would be the first to pick up on that subject:clap:
Hopefully Seth can teach him how to pick himself up AFTER a crash and not let it bother him into the next race.....something he has had a lot of practice in:crazy:
After all crashing is all part of the game..... as long as the rider is OK. Bikes can be fixed up.
Gonna try to borrow a van for the trip later in month as i believe another "mighty" Ninja needs a home in the South. The old guard are re-forming in 250 proddie...ay:ar15:

[Billy]

I wondered who would be the first to pick up on that subject:clap:
Hopefully Seth can teach him how to pick himself up AFTER a crash and not let it bother him into the next race.....something he has had a lot of practice in:crazy:
After all crashing is all part of the game..... as long as the rider is OK. Bikes can be fixed up.
Gonna try to borrow a van for the trip later in month as i believe another "mighty" Ninja needs a home in the South. The old guard are re-forming in 250 proddie...ay:ar15:

Hahaha! Yip it appears to be looming as another "back to the future" with the likes of Grant Ramage,Kevin Goddard and I believe possibly even Rob Lewis entering the fray.

[steveyb]

Well they would all need disqualification the instant they turn up.
The rules quite clearly state, well maybe not clearly, that no modifications to the chassis/frame are permitted.
So all of the strengthening gussets that would be put into the frames, and leathers, would render them illegal and of course, painfully slow.

[Billy]

Well they would all need disqualification the instant they turn up.
The rules quite clearly state, well maybe not clearly, that no modifications to the chassis/frame are permitted.
So all of the strengthening gussets that would be put into the frames, and leathers, would render them illegal and of course, painfully slow.

Yeah but it would be funny to watch,Also doesn't quite fit re the painfully slow comment seeing as Grant Ramage was first 250 home all day at Levels on the weekend,By half the length of the back straight I believe and battling it out with Al Hoogie !!!!

[steveyb]

Damn! There goes that theory.
What's next.......?

[SWERVE]

The sun decided to shine on Canterbury (first fine day in a week) so we headed off to the MCC training day (HAGD) at Ruapuna.
With lots of discussion from the previous weekend about areas of improvement we hoped the day would prove valuable. With 4 nice long sessions and no pressure, Bailie could work on key areas.
Having his Dad , Damian on hand all day on board Bailie,s old bike a KR150 was great as we had some on the spot coaching too. Seth also came and shadowed Bailie on board Aaron Shrals CBR900 (ex Ray Clee) This gave us the desired result. With all parties agreeing on the exact same areas needing work it was time to try some ideas.
It worked.... by the end of the day Bailie had made some HUGE improvements on corner entry speed and mid corner speed. He is a great young lad (14) who listens to advise... has input/comments to make... but most important.. he TAKES advice and puts it into practice.
More time on the bike will see him push the limits to the edge and find those vitals 10/ths that will make him a winner.
Roll on next round at Ruapuna.
WELL DONE BAILLIE.,... should be proud of your progress on saturday
Thanks to Dad for all your support
Thanks to Seth for coming out and being part of the day.
Look out 250 production.... the youngest member is aiming high...........

[wayne]

hi,
great to see the team going forward , coaching .............
little steps ...............
what a well turned out bike
good on you

[quickbuck]

Great to see another Ashburtonian make it to the ranks of 250 Production ;)
Yes, I am from there.
For a district with no bends in it for thousands of miles, it has produced some pretty quick riders alright....

Will be great to see Baillie in a field near me some time in the future.

[steveyb]

Door, open.....

We want to see him on the race track, not lying in the feild next to you, Crash!!:rolleyes:

[quickbuck]

Door, open.....

We want to see him on the race track, not lying in the feild next to you, Crash!!:rolleyes:
I see what you did there.......

And to be fair, I was 20 metres onto the race track!

Breaking News:
The Team Air Force Racing 250 Production Bike WILL be making an appearance at Manfeild on Saturday.
In a Joint Forces Operation will be piloted by our Army mate; Mr Evan Daly.
After all, we are all One Force now... So it is quite fitting.

[Duke girl]

Swerve....You are doing an Awesome job :yes: with the young riders down South, giving them the experience they need to better themselves with their Road Racing. I know that Mihi Banks thoroughly enjoyed her time down South on the 150 and competing against the South lsland Riders. It's great to see people like yourself as well Graeme Billington (Nth Island) passing on your knowledge and expertise to our future up & coming young Racers.
Great Job. :woohoo:

[SWERVE]

Thank you Duke girl..... hope we can build on what we are currently doing and secure a future for many more youngsters...both north & south.

[RDjase]

It was good to catch up at manfeild last weekend Merve.
That SS150 race when Dave beat Rogan by the tread depth was a cracker, liked the pass out out Dunlop on the ripple strip:eek5:

When is the next meeting for Ballie?

[SWERVE]

Yeah good to see ya...and Tyler doin so well.
Bailie is racing tommorrow at Ruapuna.... we did a test day there 2 weeks ago so he is "keen as a bean" to put what he learnt into a race.

[gsxr]

Yeah good to see ya...and Tyler doin so well.
Bailie is racing tommorrow at Ruapuna.... we did a test day there 2 weeks ago so he is "keen as a bean" to put what he learnt into a race.

What is on at Ruapuna tomorrow. I havnt heard anything about it.

Cheers

[SWERVE]

King of Ruapuna RD 1..................... yes on a Sunday:yes:

[gsxr]

No wonder gate takings are down on motorcycling events when there is no info about phuck all of the meetings unless you are in the know.
Ive been out of racing for over 20 years now so my contacts are limited but I still enjoy spectating.
Can anyone link me a site without having to put my MNZ # in to get any info.
Cheers in advance.

[SWERVE]

There are various sites with race dates on them...... sorry cant link them as on dial up at home (and this message will take 1/2hr to download)
But if you are in ChCh then google search Motorcycling Canterbury and all our dates are on there.
We dont suffer from loss of gate takings.........as all club rounds are free entry to the spectators........ so come out tomorrow..watch some great racing for free......... and please come and introduce youself. I am scrutineer tomorrow so easy to find..... if not look for the bright green Kawasaki Ninja 250 at the front of Development class and follow it back to the pits.
Look forward to meeting you
MERV

[gsxr]

Thanks Merv. Yep Ill come for a look.
However I did ask for a site where I didnt need current license # which you require for MCI.
My poor old body has been punished enough as has my wallet after 20 odd years of racing many codes of motorsport. Motorcycles, speedway side chairs ,(thats hard work ) rally cars.Budget racing with black track stock cars and finally in my twilight years go karts as a budget fix.
Never perfected any of them but the body and wallet suffered but fuck did I have a shitload of fun along the way.
So The question is . Is there a site that lists motorcyvlem events where one does not have to have a MNZ # to see the calendar ????
Cheers

[ellipsis]

Thanks Merv. Yep Ill come for a look.
However I did ask for a site where I didnt need current license # which you require for MCI.
My poor old body has been punished enough as has my wallet after 20 odd years of racing many codes of motorsport. Motorcycles, speedway side chairs ,(thats hard work ) rally cars.Budget racing with black track stock cars and finally in my twilight years go karts as a budget fix.
Never perfected any of them but the body and wallet suffered but fuck did I have a shitload of fun along the way.
So The question is . Is there a site that lists motorcyvlem events where one does not have to have a MNZ # to see the calendar ????
Cheers

...if you make it out to Ruapuna, make sure you ask someone for a calendar...i'm sure there will be at least a thousand spare in someones pocket...