Hi everyone,

As most have you will have heard I have obtained a wildcard entry to the Australian MotoGP event in the world 125cc class at Phillip Island next weekend. Yep, the 125 class they show on television right before motoGP in over 200 countries around the world. The real deal!

Just how excited I am to have this opportunity probably hasn’t really shown through over the last couple of weeks because there has been so much to do in such a short space of time. I applied for the wildcard earlier in the year but heard that all the Australian spots were already full, so we applied to the FIM. After not hearing back from them all winter my hopes weren’t too high. In fact we had started selling my 125 gear because here I was thinking I would never be racing one again, let alone in a world GP! Then just 3½ weeks a go we had the entry confirmed.

I will be riding essentially the same bike I have raced here for the last 3 years – a honda rs125. A ‘special edition’ however, as I am fortunate enough to have the loan of an engine from the Hoogenboezem family, ignition from Chris Osbourne, forks from Jason Easton and a rear shock from Steve Ward. A big thank you also to Wobbly for his time and making a cylinder head suitable, Kev from RaceSupplies for his support, Kazu for the advice and Steve Bagshaw for some carburetor parts. So many people have all chipped in to put the best bike possible together. I can’t thank everyone enough for their generosity. Although we will still be approximately 20km/hr down on top speed from the world championship regulars, the machine is definitely better than anything I’ve ridden before and I feel it will be capable of getting within 107% of the pole position lap time – which is needed for me to qualify for the race. The biggest challenge we face is having to run the FIM standard of fuel which is not available here.

Dad and I (plus Ozzy, via a very hefty phone bill!) have been out at Pukekohe the last 2 weekends testing the bike and getting the rider up to speed. It hasn’t been smooth sailing but all things considered, so far so good.

The bike has now been packed and shipped to Melbourne. Air freighters take note: MELBOURNE, not Sydney where it ended up last time!! Mum, Dad, Ozzy and I will fly out next Wednesday where we will meet our team owner Geoff (aka my awesome uncle) and head out to the track. Ozzy is super knowledgeable and really helpful so I’m looking forward to working with him over the weekend. I’m also looking forward to having Scott and Cullly -the genius behind my bucket racer – there, along with my best friend Shannon, good friend Julie and a whole heap of kiwi’s who I know are heading over for the weekend. Also Darren from the California Superbike School will be there and has offered some advice.

I don’t think my trainer Tracy is going to buy my idea and swim across the Tasman for some extra fitness training, but her & her family will be there in spirit. I have to say a huge thank you to RacePace for not only the hardcore training but also being there for me over the winter when I needed it most.

Obviously we’re not going to be fighting for the win but to qualify for a world championship race at the Island has been a personal goal of mine for many years now. This will be the last ever MotoGP 125 two-stroke race to ever be staged at the island so here’s to giving it my best shot. I can’t wait to see how all the hard work I have put into 125’s over the last few years compares to the standard of the GP boys.

I’ll try updating my website throughout the weekend so check there if you want to stay updated.

Until next time,

Avgas.

We are excited to announce Avalon will be making her debut in the world championships at the 2011 Australian MotoGP event on October 15/16th. Riding in the 125gp class, she will be aboard the honda rs125 she rode in the New Zeland championships with some extra modifications. Due to a limited budget, the bike will be down on top speed compared to the world championship regulars, but the team are simply looking forward to enjoying the experience of racing with the ‘top dogs’ of 125gp racing.

You can read more about the wildcard entrants here.

Hi everyone,

After a relaxing off-season from racing, things have been all go for me lately with lots of exciting news to share.

Two weeks ago I had my first race on the  CBR600RR I will be racing this coming summer in with Wolf Pack Honda Racing. It was an awesome weekend down at Manfeild raceway and after 3 days riding and one day racing I was feeling really comfortable with the bike and managed some solid top 10 finishes in the F1 class. Huge thank you goes out to Jamie for setting up the team for the coming season, I can not wait for it all to kick off!

Dad and I then had three days at home before heading to the airport – Japan bound for a round of the FIM  Asia road race championships. NZ was invited for the first time so I was pretty excited to represent our country. The race was held at Sugo aboard 150cc four-strokes and featured 18 racer’s from Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines, India,  Sri Lanka and Korea. The two Japanese entrants were also girls so they were very happy to have another female join the racing and we became good friends over the weekend.

The riding kicked off on Friday with two 20min sessions on a damp track. Most of the day’s practise had been cancelled due to heavy fog – it was pretty hard to learn a new track when I couldn’t see more than 20metres ahead! There was about 5+ guys crash in the session! I also had to adjust to the style required by the smaller bikes. I managed to secure 8^th on the grid during qualifying, but had a slide down the road during the qualifying session which saw me miss quite a few laps as the bike wouldn’t restart again. Race 1 was held Saturday afternoon where I finished 11^th. The Indonesian riders were very dominant out front, followed closely by the Thai team and the Pilipino 600cc champion. 

Sunday morning I tagged along with some fast guys during warm-up and was going a lot better until the small bracket for holding the side stand dug into the track and launched me off. After this we asked for it to be rounded off with a grinder and I had a bit more confidence for the race. Got a better start and ended up 9th at the finish. 

I think the results speak for themselves just how competitive the racing was over there. Mostly everyone in the field was national champions in a race class and many of them were professional racer’s. To come away with a top 10 finish was a good result and they are very keen to invite New Zealand back again next year so hopefully that means Dad and I did a good job representing us. Thanks for Dad for his organisation and MNZ for letting me take this opportunity.

This event was held at a round of the All Japan Championships so we saw their very exciting fields of 125GP, 250 mono, 600 and superbike racing. Also caught up with a couple of Australian riders I have raced with on 125GP and as they are competing in the Japanese Championship series gave us more insight into the racing here.

The  FIM Asia event was hosted by the Japanese Motorcycling  Federation who did an amazing job of hosting and immersing us in the Japanese culture. Huge thanks to Mr Goto and Mrs Eda  for their efforts. It was awesome for me to meet and learn from riders from such different cultures and I think the experience will make me a much better racer after seeing their techniques!

Thanks for reading & until next time,

Avalon

Hi everyone,

The NZ championships are all over for another year, with me finishing in the number 2 position for the second year in a row.

Manfeild raceway is almost like a 2nd home to me after a lot of winter racing there so I was really looking forward to getting to Feilding and giving points leader Jake Lewis a good run for his money at the final round of the 201 championship… Read more here

Hi everyone,

Well the Hampton Downs round of the New Zealand championships has been done and dusted for another year, this time in extremely mixed conditions but finally with some good results for myself & the team!

Friday and Saturday brought rain, rain and more rain which seems to be frequent occurrence at every round this year. I was feeling pretty comfortable in the conditions until qualifying where I lost my rhythm and couldn’t manage to put a good lap in. I knew I wasn’t going to be anywhere near the front but I must admit I was a little surprised to qualify in 7^th on the grid!

Race 1 on Saturday had us scrambling to change tires at the last minute as the track was damp and not in great condition for either slicks or wets. I ended up going out on wet weather tires which may not have been the best decision but I hung in as long as I could and managed to come away with a 3^rd, behind James Jarman and Jake Lewis. Congrats to James on his first nationals win.

Race 2 was held in very similar conditions to the first race however the track was drying a lot faster and I had learnt from the previous day to use slicks. It turned into a pretty crazy race with four of us all dicing together for the 10 laps. I knew it would come down to the slip stream to the line as to who was going to take the win so I sat in third and saved myself for the getting the drive around the final corner and up the hill to the chequered flag. I managed to nab 2^nd place but couldn’t quite get the run to slipstream Jake Lewis who took the win.

Race 3 also doubled as the NZ Tourist Trophy title, a race I have been trying to win for four years now. Finally the weather was playing its part and we had a dry track to race on. I got a great start and rode around the outside of Jason Easton at turn 1 to take the lead, which I stretched out to 12 seconds and maintained for the 15 laps of the race. What a great feeling to come away with the TT title after all that time!

I have to say a huge thank you to Auckland Motorcycle Club for running the race meeting in very trying conditions and to the flag marshals who definitely got the short end of the straw with the weather but stuck it out for all three days.

Also to mum and dad for sticking by me all that time, Tim for his input with my riding and Kevin for sorting out the team again. And finally huge thank you to everyone who came out and watched and said hello throughout the weekend and my sponsors, I couldn’t do it without all the support I am so fortunate to get.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I’ll have some more good news to share next weekend too!

Av.

Hi guys,

Three weeks down in the South Island has been and gone like a whirlwind and I am now back home getting ready for more busy weeks ahead!

The past weekend, round 3 of the NZSBK championships, began dramatically as we discovered on Thursday morning that my gear bag was missing from the van in our hotel car park in central Christchurch. After a few trips to police stations and trading shops we had no luck in locating the bag or any of my gear, so a huge thank-you to Darbi for sorting me out with a helmet, Midge Smart for the loan of gloves, boots and a back protector and MNZ for sending me down a replacement license that made it possible for me to race. The team trailer on its way up from Dunedin also had a puncture so it wasn’t a good day all round for the team!

Friday practice went all good, getting a bit more performance out of my Jager engine with a new reed block & splitter.

On Saturday I managed to qualify on pole with a 1.39.8 lap time, 0.4 secs ahead of p2, but feeling a bit dismayed as I felt I could have made better use of the session but got caught up in traffic.

Race one saw me out front and a lot faster than everyone through the first sector of the track, but Jake Lewis would made it all up again through the infield, where he eventually made a pass on the penultimate lap and put a lapped rider between him and myself to pull away for the win. I was a bit annoyed to finish 2^nd and therefore eager for the next day’s racing to arrive.

Sunday morning was fine and I got a flyer of a start from pole and managed to pull about a 3second lead before throwing it down the road entering the sweeper on the 2^nd lap. I remounted to finish 10^th.

The final race of the day was the NZ 125 Grand Prix, and in true fashion, the weather decided to pack it in right before the 125 race. We all went out on slicks, and unfortunatley for me it turns out brand new slicks in the wet don’t hold up too well as I managed to crash for the 2^nd time in one day.. on the warm-up lap. I got back on and started the race, where I was running around 3^rd/4^th till it was red flagged due to the conditions. Big thank you to Dad, Tim and Kev for re-prepping my bike before the race was restarted. I rode the best I could in the damp conditions to finish 2^nd.

Overall results were:

2nd in NZ 125cc GP

3^rd overall for the weekend

2^nd in the championship points

My next event is Round 4 in five weeks time at Hampton Downs.

Thanks everyone,
Avalon.

Hi everyone

Wow, Invercargill greeted us with very different weather over the weekend to what  most of you would have experienced elsewhere in the country. The conditions weren’t ideal for motorcycle racing but unfortunately that is the way it often goes at the southern-most racetrack in the world – Teretonga park Raceway.

As usual we had practice on Friday which went very well in dry conditions.

Saturday then brought practice and qualifying where I was surprised how quick I managed to get down to some decent lap times, a testimony to how well my team this year has managed to get a good base setup for the bike. This was proved again as my teammate Jake and I qualified in p1 and p2 on the grid respectively.

Race 1 I lead for the 1^st half putting down some consistent lap times until it started raining which slowed the pace down and I was passed and brought it home a bit conservatively in 2^nd place.

Race 2 on Sunday was held in pouring rain with large puddles on the track to avoid. It was the first time in over a year I had raced on wets so I was happy to be battling for 2^nd place, but didn’t manage to find a safe way past on the last lap and finished 3^rd.

The final scheduled race was cancelled due to the atrocious conditions sweeping through Invercargill – a fair call – but a bit of a shame for me as I was now much feeling more confident on the wet weather bridgestone tires.

My placings left me with 3^rd overall for the weekend and moved me up to 2^nd in the championship standings. Another thanks to all my sponsors Blue Wing Honda, Race Supplies, HJC, NGK, DID chain, Carcolors North Shore, CRC lubricants, Deepweb web design, Baywatch Motor Lodge and celtic leathers and my team for their support.  I am now really looking forward to the rest of the season as I feel we are making some real improvements on my riding and the bike so it can only go up from here!

Thanks for reading and supporting my racing efforts. 

Stay tuned for more from this coming weekend!

Avalon

Race 1 NZ Championships Timaru

Hi everyone,

Here is a quick run down of the first round of the NZ Superbike championships held in Timaru this past weekend.

Mum and I drove south during the week in a diesel van thanks to Glen Bishop, which was a bit cheaper than our gas guzzler and we arrived at Baywatch motor Lodge on the Thursday, preparing for a big weekend ahead.

This year I am riding my Honda rs125 for Team Race Supplies, again in the 125cc category. Most of my competitors from last year have moved up to 600cc supersport bikes so my main competition this year is from young up-and-comers and the visiting Australians and one Malaysian rider.

Our weekend started out well as we had a really good set-up from previous testing which gave me some confidence for the 3 races coming up over the weekend.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing as a small electrical fault in qualifying left me stranded in the middle of the track with only one flying lap completed. This put me in 11^th grid position and with a lot of work to do in the races ahead…

Race 1 on Saturday I managed to pull off some exciting passing manoeuvres to take the lead by on lap 3 and pulled away for the win, yay!

Sunday morning brought an overcast day and race 2, where I got a better start and was in fourth by the 3^rd corner.. not bad from the 3^rd row of the grid! I kept steady and managed to take another race win.

By race 3 I was feeling a bit tired and didn’t have a very good start to the race, but I knew if  I didn’t give up and kept steady I could catch my team mate Jake Lewis in the lead, and still have some energy left to pull out a quick last lap. Unfortunately I made a small mistake whilst behind him that sent me off into the grass and I tipped over. It was only a very small crash but I couldn’t get my bike going again to complete the last lap.

After the DNF I am now sitting in 3^rd in the championship standings – atleast there is a long season ahead and loads of points up for grabs.. maybe I should have realized that during the race!! I just want to win races so bad. I’m sure the hard work will continue, and pay off over the next two weekends and we should be able to close the gap in the championship standings.

Big thanks to all my sponsors for making this year possible: Baywatch Motor Lodge for the awesome accommodation, Blue wing Honda, Race Supplies, Carcolors, NGK, HJC helets, Sidi boots, Bridgestone, Celtic leathers.

Also thank-you to Mum and Dad, and my new team, Tim and Kev for all their work leading up to and over the weekend.  

Until next time,

Avalon.

HJC helmets have served many riders very well over the years and Avalon is extremely pleased to have their continued support for the 2011 season. She has been riding with the latest model R-PHA 10 helmet and is notably impressed.

“I have been loving my new HJC. It is so much quieter and better ventilated than anything I have ever worn, allowing me to focus much better when on the bike. One of my favourite riders Ben Spies also wears the same, and I know we aren’t the only one’s who believe in its safety and comfortability”

Other New Zealand riders to be seen in this helmet in the upcoming season include 600cc and superbike riders such as Craig Shirrifs and Glen Skatchill.

For more information on HJC’s range in New Zealand click here.