New venue for Old Thumpers
A competitor in the Large Bore section takes a turn at the Old Thumpers, held this year at Onekaka. Photo: Gerard Hindmarsh.
Screeching Jap bikes again took the back seat to throaty pre-1975 machines in the 17th annual classic motorcross, the Old Thumpers, held last Waitangi Weekend at its new venue on the upper reaches of Aaron and Joy Griffith’s farm at Onekaka.
Around 500 spectators turned up over the day for the nostalgic petrolhead event, which attracted around 100 entries. It’s now the third year this event has been stretched over two days to include Classic Observed Trials, again offered on the Saturday around eight small and testing tracks around the property. For the main races on Sunday, hay bales and temporary fencing transformed paddocks into a regulation racetrack.
Old Thumpers veteran competitor Malcolm Smith, now residing in Christchurch but in the Bay to compete, said the new venue became necessary after a new house was built fair and square in the middle of the old track above Pohara.
“This new track at Onekaka is great because the extra room actually gives us more scope. Essentially it’s a big upgrade for competitors.”
This year’s winner of the Castrol Old Thumpers Grand Champion Trophy was Mike MacCarten from Christchurch.
One of the organisers, Richard “Wattie” Watson, said that it was especially heartening that virtually every business around town donated to the prize pool.
“Some, like Lifestyle Hire, even doubled what they put up last year. We gave away literally thousands of dollars of prizes. You could say after 17 years, Old Thumpers is on a real roll.”
That is definitely true. Motorcycle clubbers around the country laughed when locals started up this competition back in 1994. Now it’s attracting more spectators than other standard events around New Zealand.
Dr Vic Eastman was the race’s “medical volunteer”, and his $250 “fee” was donated straight to the Joan Whiting Rest Home. Fortunately, the only treatment he performed all day was putting a band aid on the finger of a little girl who scratched herself on rocks at the beach the day before.
Said Dr Eastman: “It really says something for the skill of both competitors and organisers alike that everyone finished the weekend unscathed.”
Gerard Hindmarsh
