Come support Avalon and New Zealand’s top motorcyclists at Hampton Downs for round 4 of the 2012 superbike championships. More info here

Hi everyone,

My friend and 2008 New Zealand 125gp champion Cameron Jones was critically injured in a racing accident at the Levels round of nationals three weeks ago now. He is suffering from severe brain and spinal injuries and is still in ICU in Burwood hospital.

You can help the Jones family through this buy purchasing coffee from this facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/287280401331414, with the funds from each purchase going directly to them. Your help is really appreciated

Thanks for your support for Cam!

Avalon

Hi Everyone

3 consecutive weekends racing is completed with me currently sitting in 9th position in the 600 Supersport Championship.

Timaru’s Levels Raceway hosted round 2 last weekend 14th and 15th. It rained constantly on the Friday practise day but the weekend was hot and sunny.

Unfortunately the track was very slick however due to a lot of oil being dumped on the first few turns which definitley hindered everyones lap times. After qualifing in 13th position of 20 I certainly wasnt looking forward to the start, trying to make up positions and avoid the oil was a risky combination!  It went ok although I dropped a couple of places while avoiding a crashed rider and ended up in 11th place in the 1st race.

Race 2 was going a heap better, I was managing to keep up with some faster riders until my race came to a grinding holt due to a miscalculation with the fuel which saw me run out 3 laps from the end.

It was a weekend of mixed emotions: I was gutted to DNF but happy at the same time that I had been running a better pace and most of all had been thinking of my friend Cam Jones who was seriously injured Sunday morning. He is still in Intensive Care. Please keep him in your prayers and keep an eye out on Trademe for items being auctioned with the proceeds going to a fund for Cam.

The 3rd round was held in Invercargill this past weekend. I couldn’t wait to ride one of my favorite tracks ever on the CBR600! Qualifying left me in grid position 9 – far better than the previous two rounds which gave me a boost of confidence. I ended the 1st race in 9th with a seriously torn tire. It was good experience for me to ride with the rear moving around so much and feel how the bike behaves with deteriorated rubber.

Race Two and Invercargill weather did its thing in time for me to go around the outside of a few people at turn 1 putting me in 4th position. I held on to 4th for a few of laps until I began to struggle to see with my visor fogging. It was my fault for not sticking the pinlock antifog strip in properly but I was still happy to finish in my highest placing this year of 7th.

Huge thanks;

to my team – Jamie, Scott, Georgie, Shannon, Travers and especially mum and dad – for all their hard work and making it a fantastic few weeks. I cant thank Jamie enough for getting me out there this year.

to Pete Finlay, the Castrol Honda boys and Blue Wing Honda for all the help and support I could ask for.

to my sponsors and supporters – Baywatch  Motor  Lodge, please stay here when you are in Timaru, Uncle Geoff and Aunty Gay, Race Pace Trainers, Deep Web – Web Design, Blue Wing Honda, HJC helmets, Sidi boots, NGK spark plugs, Tridon Toledo Tools, Carcolors, Bearing Wholesale, Metzeler tyres and Total Oil.

And finally to all the other riders for the great racing and making our sport awesome to be part of.

My next championship race will be the 4th round at Hampton Downs on March 17/18th. We will also use the Pacific Club race meeting at Taupo in February as a shake down for nationals there late March.

Until then,

Avalon.

Hi guys,

The 2012 NZ road race championships are underway after round one at Ruapuna Park Raceway in Christchurch on the weekend.

Although the forecast wasn’t too flash we had fine weather all weekend with only a few small quakes. The competition in the 600cc supersport class is incredibly strong this year and not having ridden a 600 at Ruapuna before Friday testing made it a difficult weekend for myself and Wolf Pack Racing Honda, but we improved steadily and can’t be too disappointed with the result.

After qualifying in 14^th position I knew I needed good starts in both races on Sunday. Race 1 saw me get off the line well but brake way too early for turn 1 and get swamped. I struggled to get into a rhythm all race and ended in 16^th position – not where I wanted to be but my fastest lap time of a 1.35.7 was a positive to take. I also ended up passing people on the brakes which has been my weak point since getting on the 600 so I was kind of pumped about that.

15 lap races are a lot longer than what I’ve ever done so Jamie made more power shakes to keep us energised for race 2 which was also the NZ Grand Prix. They look like charcoal but are great for energy! I had a better first lap and settled into a really good pace which I was able to maintain all race, finishing in 10^th position and 8^th in my class.

I’m aiming to keep on improving my riding and championship position this weekend at Levels Raceway.

You can follow the timing, video and live updates at www.nzsbk.com if you’re interested otherwise stay tuned for more news next week!

Avalon.

Taupo’s Wolf Pack Racing along with Blue Wing Honda NZ have teamed up with Avalon and are excited to race the 2012 season aboard a Honda cbr600rr.

The dates for the championship are as follows:

Round 1 Powerbuilt Raceway Christchurch January 7th – 8th ,

Round 2 Timaru Raceway January 17-18 ,

Round 3 Teretonga Invercargill Park 24-25 ,

Round 4 Hampton Downs Auckland March 17-18 ,

Round 5 Taupo Raceway Taupo March 24-25.

You can follow live timing and audio for the championship here: http://www.nzsuperbike.com/p/live-updatestiming-etc.html, and be sure to check back here for race reports from each round.