MAW Parramatta City Raceway Dirt Bike Spectacular

AUGUST 2010
REMY GARDNER TO REPRESENT HONDA
AUSTRALIA AT ALBACETE, SPAIN
Remy Gardner has been selected to represent Honda Australia in what will be
his road-racing debut, competing in the Honda NSF100 Cup European Final in
Albacete, Spain on the weekend of 22-24 October.
Designed for riders between the ages of 9-13 years, the NSF100 will be a
well-suited introduction to road-race competition for Remy, who has been
undergoing intense training with Dad Wayne both on the tar and dirt. “Ever
since we found out I was going to Spain, we’ve been working really hard to get
ready and Dad has been trying to get me as much time on the track as he can.
It’s going to be really tough competition over there but I’m going to try the best
I can and am going to learn as much as I can from those other riders from all
around the world,” said an excited Remy. “Also, I can’t wait to race against
Valentino Rossi’s brother, Luca Marini who is the same age as me and he’s
pretty good too,” Remy added.
Wayne and Remy have a solid training schedule planned between now and
October. “I intend to get on a bike on the track with Remy in the next few
weeks so we can follow each other and I’ll be able to see where he needs a bit
of correction, and he can see what lines I take and body position I carry,” said
Wayne. “This is a fantastic opportunity for him and we want to make the most
of it. I’m working on getting some testing for both Remy and Luca while we’re
in Spain, so it will be an interesting trip,” he said.
CHECK OUT WAYNE TRAINING TEAM GARDNER ON YOUTUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wApns3VfcQg
TEAM GARDER TRIO TAKE TROPHIES AT M.A.W. SYDNEY DIRT
BIKE SPECTACULAR AT PARRAMATTA CITY RACEWAY
In an historic event for dirt bike racing in this country, Tyrepower Parramatta City
Raceway hosted the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse Sydney Dirt Bike Spectacular last
weekend. Fox Sports covered the racing and will show the event on Tuesday 28th
September (channel tba) at 6pm. With over 100 riders competing at this first significant
event, there’s huge potential for many more high profile short circuit races to be held at
the famous venue in future. A ‘Christmas Dirt Bike Super Prix’ is already scheduled,
under lights, for December 11th.
Team Gardner proudly acknowledge
their valued sponsors
Team Gardner was certainly looking forward to competing at such an impressive venue
and intended to be there ‘rain, hail or shine’. We did not, however, expect to experience
all those weather patterns in one day!! It got pretty slippery after the first rain downpour,
but when the hail arrived it was time to get the ¼ midget cars out to help dry the track.
They did the trick and when the sun came out and the bikes laid down a bit of rubber the
surface made for thrilling racing.
Remy, Luca struggled a little to find their groove at the start of the day, but there was
great excitement when the Team Gardner trio all took home a first place trophy after
fighting hard to learn the new circuit and understand the surface. Josh also notched up a
second place and was all smiles at the end of the day with two trophies in hand.
Team Gardner would like to thank all involved in making this important event happen.
Special mention must go to David Smith, President of the Central Coast Junior
Motorcycle Club for coming up with the idea and working so hard to put it all together;
David Tapp, GM of Sydney Speedway Pty Ltd for recognising the potential and making it
all happen so smoothly; and, Race Secretary Lyndel Butler and all the other officials
involved on the day for their support and enthusiasm for our chosen sport. Without the
dedication of these people our children wouldn’t have such an incredible opportunity to
showcase their skills, and their sport to a greater audience.
Continued on page 2
TEAM GARDNER NEWS
AUGUST 2010
SYDNEY DIRT TRACK SPECTACULAR
For full race results go to: http://www.natsoft.com.au
# 88 LUCA GARDNER
Born: 24 January 2000
80cc –stroke 8-U1 2 yrs
100cc-150cc 2-stroke 13-U16
Heat 1:
3rd
Heat 2:
1st
Heat 3:
1st
FINAL:
1st
2nd: Michael Blair 3rd: Thomas Lewis
85cc 2-stroke/150cc 4-stroke, big wheel 13-U16
Heat 1:
DNS
Heat 2:
1st
Heat 3:
1st
FINAL:
2nd
1st: Joshua Fletcher
3rd
Heat 2:
8th
Heat 3:
2nd
FINAL:
1st
1st: Luca Gardner
# 103 JOSH PICKERING
Born: 30 November 1996
1st: Josh Pickering
Heat 1:
2nd: Josh Pickering
3rd: Kane Burns
Josh had a very successful day at Parramatta City Raceway, and showed the
crowd what a Dirt Track ‘Spectacular’ should look like. His natural style and
ability shone through as always and even though he got disqualified for
apparently touching the start tapes in the first heat on the Honda CRF150, it
didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. Josh said “it was a really fun. It’s a very different
circuit - a bit harder but it really suited me well, so I enjoyed it. I got pinged for
touching the tapes, even though it actually wasn’t me, that’s the way things go
sometimes, and at the end of the day it didn’t matter. It was really good
experience and I can’t wait to go back in December. Thanks to Parramatta
Raceway for putting it on and everyone else who helped out.”
2nd: Max Crocker 3rd: Tom Edwards
This circuit suited Luca’s style, which was evident in his results. He did
have a problem getting off the line in Heat 2, stalling the bike and finishing
in 8th, but luckily it all rested on where he finished in the final. He was
pretty evenly pitted against Max Crocker who took second place, but was
able to just beat him over the line by 1,000th of a second in a nail biting
final finish. The win has given him renewed confidence and drive. “I knew
I could win if I could just keep far in front of Max because he had more
power than me on the straight, but I got him on the corners. The finish flag
was half way in the straight so I had to get out of the last corner first and
keep the throttle on,” said Luca.
# 87 REMY GARDNER
Born: 24 February 1998
85cc 2-stroke/150cc 4-stroke, standard wheel 11-U13 yrs
Heat 1:
4th
Heat 2:
1st
Heat 3:
1st
FINAL:
1st
1st: Remy Gardner
2nd: Thomas Duggan 3rd: Lawson Walters
85cc 2-stroke/150cc 4-stroke, big wheel 11-U13 yrs
Heat 1:
3rd
Heat 3:
5th
Heat 3:
4th
FINAL:
4th
1st: Lawson Walters
2nd: Jay Garard
3rd: Thomas Duggan
Remy struggled all day on the Honda CR85 2-stoke and even after setup
changes Wayne and Remy couldn’t get the bike quite right for this circuit.
Remy said, “we needed a stiffer spring, it was lacking in grip and it was
just spinning. There was nothing wrong with the power, we just needed a
different spring. We did the best we could with it on the day.“ It was a
different story on the Honda CRF150 in the standard wheel category.
“After the first race we knew we had to make some changes to the bike.
Once Dad did that it was perfect. I knew I just had to get out of the gates
in front, and if I could do that I could win every race,” Remy said. He got a
good start in the 2nd and 3rd heats and most importantly the final to win
each race and take home the trophy at the end of the day. “I’d like to
thank Tony Hatton for all his hard work in getting my bikes ready for this
race. He always does a really good job for us,” Remy added.
2
TEAM GARDNER NEWS
AUGUST 2010
FOOTNOTE…
By Wayne Gardner
Since the announcement of Remy’s impending debut road-race in Spain, there’s been
quite a bit of interest from the media both nationally and internationally. Remy and Luca
appeared on One HD’s Thursday Night Live with me last week, and Australian
Motorcycle News will run an article in the next few weeks featuring a Q&A interview with
Remy and myself. News Limited has sent the story and photos to all their local
newspapers and the Sunday Herald Sun will run a story this coming weekend, and a
few of the international motorcycle publications have picked it up.
The trick now is to keep Remy’s feet on the ground and help him to not feel pressured
from all the attention (I know what that’s like). At the moment he doesn’t seem too
bothered by it all, and just can’t wait to start competing on road bikes. We’ve been
training hard and I’m concentrating on ensuring he doesn’t pick up bad habits that could
be difficult to break in future.
He knows he’s going to learn a lot from the other kids who’ve been racing the Honda
NSF100’s in their own national championships, some since they were nine years old.
He’ll be well prepared before he gets there, but we don’t have any huge expectations. I
feel confident he’ll do well among the experienced pack and know we’ll both come away
with some valuable knowledge from this trip. A big thanks to Honda for believing in
Remy’s ability to represent them well at this prestigious event.
Story as it appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser, announcing Remy’s upcoming debut road-race in
Spain.
My brother-in-law has recently put together a video of a training session I did with
Remy, Luca and Josh at Marulan Driver Training Centre in NSW and put it up on
YouTube. This’ll give you an idea of what we’ve been doing. You’ll notice Luca is on
his CRF80 with Michelin road tyres. The Moriwaki 80’s that Remy and Josh are riding
are a bit too big for Luca at the moment, and he loves hanging off the side of the 80
putting scratches in his knee scrapers!! It’s a great way for young kids to start riding on
the tar and eases them into the skill.
Have a look a the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wApns3VfcQg. Also, check out our interview on
Thursday Night Live on my website: http://www.waynegardnerapproved.com
For further information please contact Toni Gardner on +61 (0) 414 574228 or
via email [email protected]
TEAM GARDNER
20 Ralph Black Drive
Wollongong, NSW 2095
Australia