Race classes

[Teambwr47]

I'm trying to get some idea's as to what and where to race once we get settled and a low down on the classes would be good. What are the most popular classes in NZ racing and which has the best competition, fullest grids etc.

I'm used to racing Supersport 600's in the UK which at club and national levels involves lots of cash for tuning and electronics.

By way of example my last CBR600RR had Motec M800 ignition and the motor was fully tuned and worth way to much cash with kit parts etc. Add in full WP 25mm fork kits at £1200 etc etc and a top spec race bike adds up to £20000.

I've had a chat to a few guys while we in NZ and it seemed like 600 racing in NZ is run to Superstock rules. Is this the case?
I also spoke to a Yamaha dealer whuile in NZ and he mentioned to me that Yamaha do a race support program whereby they give you bikes on 9month interest/payment free and at the end you either sell or finance it. Anyone able to shed some light on race support schemes?

I'm also a bit confused by the fact that there seems to be racing going on now, in the winter?

In the UK our season starts in March with a few meetings but really gets going in April and then ends pretty much at the end of September with a few meetings in October but for certain Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb(winter) is racing free.

If there's all year round racing in NZ then happy days..............

[sAsLEX]

They breed us harder in the colonies hence racing in the rain and sleet that is Winter.....

Can't help much on the racing though, but I would hazard a guess http://www.mnz.co.nz/competitionrules.aspx that should cover it

Hang on: http://www.motorcyclingnz.co.nz/down...egulations.pdf There you go.

[Teambwr47]

Its not so much the regs i'm after its whats the popular choice.

Is it more common for 600's to be fully tuned and kitted or run to Superstock regs. I don't want to be thinking about Superstock spec if most others are running fully tuned bikes and equally i don't want to run in Superstock races if the bigger grids and better competition is in Supersport if theres such a series.

I did wonder if 600 Supersport in NZ is actually in effect '600 Superstock' like many other countries where tuning is being done less and less to cut costs but the series keep their long standing names.

[Sketchy_Racer]

My understanding is that NZ is superstock rules.

Someone in the know will shortly let you know.

-Glen

[sugilite:Me]

NZ supersport rules are like other countries super stock. You are allowed to change the rear shock, fork internals (I think) fit an race exhaust, alter gearing and thats about it.

We do have a winter/spring series, it attracts more entrants than the nationals do. Check out http://vicclub.co.nz/tiki-view_artic...p?type=Article (scroll to bottom of page for winter series dates)
The nationals run from December through to February over 5 rounds.

Cannot comment on the yamaha deal sorry.

[Clivoris]

Hi mate and welcome to the site. I'm involved with The Victoria MCC executive committee and can give you a bit of a lowdown on our winter series. Check out our website vicclub.co.nz for details but our series seems to be pretty popular with club racers.
600 supersport is pretty popular with intense racing, but I am not sure what our club regs are for the class (they may be more flexible than MNZ's). I have a sense though that MNZ is leaning toward minimising allowable performance mods to keep costs down and because mods can be difficult to police. In supersport we often have fields of around 30 bikes with many cross entering to the superbike class. Our F3 class is pretty popular too with a mix of 400cc fours and 650 twins being the popular choice. It seems that the 650s are the way to go if you want to be truly competitive but that will no doubt be debated by some. It looks like we will also be running a 650 protwins class here in NZ. At least initially, it is likely that this will be run within F3 unless interest builds to the point where they get their own races. This is a new class to NZ that has been introduced by Motorcycling NZ (Our national body) and Vicclub don't currently have any plans to run it this season.
From the info you have posted it would seem that you would be comfortable in the supersport class and probably enjoy the opportunity to give the superbikes a go. It is certainly possible to spend extreme amounts of money making a bike competitive over here, but I know many riders giving 600's a go on a "relative" shoe-string budget. From talking to people with UK experience, it is my understanding that our club racing scene is more affordable and less intense, but more fun. Hope that makes sense and is helpful.
Look forward to seeing you out there.

[codgyoleracer]

Popularity of classes in the road race scene changes a little from region to region also. Our 600 class is the largest "production based field" on average with 30 riders turning up at national level & more at club level on average. The superbike class is basically a money thing if you want to run at the top end of the field (+ a smidgen of skil of course) & is on average about half the field size of 600's. F3 class is real popular & attracts a wide range of riders from virtually no budget to reasnoble budget racers. The top bikes & riders typically usually hide in winter & only come out to play for our battle of the street races & national races in summer. Gp125 is an option - as long as you have the bodybuild to suit, class sizes vary greatly region to region.
Other options are post classic & classic classes if your into the slightly older stuff + bears racing (british , european & american made machinery).
Come along to one of the meetings & take a look as soon as you get a chance & introduce yourself , - us kiwis are a pretty friendly bunch you know & information will be very forthcoming on where to go , who to see & what to race.

[k14]

Yeah mate, sounds like your supersport is closer to world supersport rules. Here for supersport you are allowed to modify a small number of things. These include:
-Fibreglass fairings
-Rear shock
-Front fork internals (externals must remain the same)
-Exhaust/headers
-Ecu (power commander etc, not allowed to completly replace factory cdi)
-Clipons/rearsets
-Brake Lines/pads

And I think thats about it.

The national championship series is contested in summer and that involves 5 tracks (3 in south island and 2 in north island). Then in the off season various clubs around the country run their own series. Probably the two major ones are VMCC (run at the manfeild and taupo track) and motorcycling canterbury (at levels and ruapuna).

For your budget mentioned above you'd be able to buy and kit out a bike along with pay for pretty much all expenses for a ride which with the right rider could win the nz supersport championship. Thats after converting your 20000 pound into roughly $50000 nzd.

Also at nz championship level the supersport class is limited to 2 rear and 1 front tyres for the 2 races over the weekend. There are also other classes that contest the whole championship (125gp, F3, sidecars and superbikes) but from your post it sounds as though supersport would be the right class for you.

Any other questions just post here of feel free to flick me a PM.

[scracha]

I'm also a bit confused by the fact that there seems to be racing going on now, in the winter?

Winter here is extremely mild compared to blighty. Easier to start racing at the bottom level here, dunno if it's as easy to keep going at the more umm..competitive classes though.

Take your bike(s), tools and plenty of spares with you as you'll be amazed at the high prices here. Keep a UK bank account/credit card (recommend Nationwide) and your UK Ebay account and you'll be "sweet" though.

If there's all year round racing in NZ then happy days..............

The yang to the ying is that there aren't many tracks and the Kiwi attitude to safety is prevelant*. The new track they're building north of Hamilton could be the Kiwi equivalent of Cadwell Park though (here's hoping). You'll get farked off about not being able to jump on a plane/ferry and choose from dozens of tracks on the continent.


Oh...and they're friendly buggers down here.
* (You'll quickly learn the phrase "she'll be right").