Racer thinking of moving to NZ

[Tootall]

Hiya,

I've put a thread up in the general section but reckon I'll get the answers I'm after here!

I'm an english bloke living and racing in france, but thinking of maybe moving to NZ. Got quite a few questions about the racing scene.

Can I go straight in at national level or is there a club "ladder" I've got to go though? I'm in the national french championship at the mo, in the SS600.

What sort of budget do you reckon for a season in the 600s? What's the level like? Do you get much tracktime at race weekends? Are there many trackdays?

How many tracks are there? Are they on both islands?

Sorry 'bout all the questions, and I'm sure I'll have more!

Cheers

[McDuck]

I am not a massive expert but there are plenty of 600s around, with plenty of compotition. I dont know about the budget questions but there are 3 (soon to be four) main tracks in the north island and a handfull in the south island One of the main tracks holds the A1 GP.

[fredie]

http://www.trackspot.co.nz/

[Sketchy_Racer]

Hiya,

I've put a thread up in the general section but reckon I'll get the answers I'm after here!

I'm an english bloke living and racing in france, but thinking of maybe moving to NZ. Got quite a few questions about the racing scene.

Can I go straight in at national level or is there a club "ladder" I've got to go though? I'm in the national french championship at the mo, in the SS600.

You can go straight into any class you want as soon as you pay $125 and get a full competition licence.

What sort of budget do you reckon for a season in the 600s? What's the level like? Do you get much tracktime at race weekends? Are there many trackdays?

Depends how competitive you want to be. A 10k budget could win you a club championship on a older 600 if you ride it well. That includes buying the bike, Otherwise it seems popular to spend about 40k setting up a new 600 into a race bike and running the national season which will also cost about 30k to do properly (obviously were talking without and sponsorship etc)

How many tracks are there? Are they on both islands?

Three tracks and another on it's way in the north island. and I think the same 3 tracks down south.

Sorry 'bout all the questions, and I'm sure I'll have more!

Cheers

My replies are in bold

Cheers,

-Glen

[WarrenW]

There are many clubs in the country all of which hold various local championships and share the national champs around the circuits. SS600 is a pretty competitive class with an average feild of 30+ bikes at our clubs champs. There are also street circuits - the two most known ones are Wanganui on Boxing day (cemetry circuit) and Paeroa sometime if Feb. Tight but fast circuits. Westport and Neslon in the south island also run street meets.

[Tootall]

Cheers all. Looking good so far then.

[k14]

My replies are in bold

Cheers,

-Glen

You have to have ridden at three club meets to be allowed to race nationals as far as I know.

NZ is a great place if you want to race heaps and for cheap. I'd dispute the 70k price tag above too, from what I gather a competitive bike can be made for between 25-30k and then add another 15k max for travel, tyres, accomodation and you should be able to scrape by on 40k give or take.

As far as track days go, there are a few from time to time. But usually the club race days are cheaper and better for a serious racer, the track days are more for road riders. Say for instance at Ruapuna (in Christchurch), every Tuesday and Friday is an open test day. I think for a bike its about $120 for the day. Show up at 8am and if no one else is there you get the track to yourself. If there are some cars there you may have to have 20 mins each!

As far as competion goes, Gareth Jones is currently winning the supersport champs. He has been very close to a local James Smith. Gareth rode last year in world 1000 superstock and was running approx top 20 in that.

[Tootall]

You have to have ridden at three club meets to be allowed to race nationals as far as I know.

NZ is a great place if you want to race heaps and for cheap. I'd dispute the 70k price tag above too, from what I gather a competitive bike can be made for between 25-30k and then add another 15k max for travel, tyres, accomodation and you should be able to scrape by on 40k give or take.

As far as track days go, there are a few from time to time. But usually the club race days are cheaper and better for a serious racer, the track days are more for road riders. Say for instance at Ruapuna (in Christchurch), every Tuesday and Friday is an open test day. I think for a bike its about $120 for the day. Show up at 8am and if no one else is there you get the track to yourself. If there are some cars there you may have to have 20 mins each!

As far as competion goes, Gareth Jones is currently winning the supersport champs. He has been very close to a local James Smith. Gareth rode last year in world 1000 superstock and was running approx top 20 in that.

Very cool. You'd be looking at a minimum of €40,000 (about 100,000NZ$) to run at the front over here so things are looking good. So the level is pretty hot then? Are the grids full? We end up with an A and B final as theres usually 80+ riders in the 600s and 1000s.
$120 for a whole day on track sounds like a bargain too.
I've watched a couple of races on Speedboxtv on the net, are all your tracks flat?

[k14]

Very cool. You'd be looking at a minimum of €40,000 (about 100,000NZ$) to run at the front over here so things are looking good. So the level is pretty hot then? Are the grids full? We end up with an A and B final as theres usually 80+ riders in the 600s and 1000s.
$120 for a whole day on track sounds like a bargain too.
I've watched a couple of races on Speedboxtv on the net, are all your tracks flat?

Yeah all the tracks are 95% flat, there are a few small elevation changes but nothing like brands or donnington.

No sadly the grids are no where near full. You can see the results from the latest round of the NZ Champs here and see there are less than 20 600's and only around 10 superbikes. Thats not to say the racing is crap its just the front 4 or 5 guys going hammer and nail at it and then the "also rans" circulating by themselves. If you can run at the pointy end of the french 600's then you will certainly be competitive over here.

Here is another good site for racers, www.visordown.co.nz

[madmal64]

If you want to see some of the Kiwi race scene on You tube the is "On the Gas TV" just use the search in You Tube and this will give you a look see at our tracks and some of the competition.

[roogazza]

Yeah all the tracks are 95% flat, there are a few small elevation changes but nothing like brands or donnington.

No sadly the grids are no where near full. You can see the results from the latest round of the NZ Champs here and see there are less than 20 600's and only around 10 superbikes. Thats not to say the racing is crap its just the front 4 or 5 guys going hammer and nail at it and then the "also rans" circulating by themselves. If you can run at the pointy end of the french 600's then you will certainly be competitive over here.

Here is another good site for racers, www.visordown.co.nz

K14 has pretty much nailed it for you. G.

[slowpoke]

Get in touch with Teambwr47, he's made the transition from a high level racer in the UK to NZ and I'm sure he'll give you an unbiased perspective and informed opinion.

For what it's worth it's about to get a whole lot cheaper to build a competitive bike in NZ for 2010. Here's a link to proposed new regulations: http://www.nzsbk.co.nz/114402/html/page.html

[fredie]

so what happened