The weather was overcast but humid for the annual AMCC “Bucket” 2-Hour race at Mt Wellington kart track last Sunday.
Miniature road-race – commonly referred to as “bucket racing” comprises full size, small-capacity motorcycles, which compete on small circuits – typically kart tracks; And Mt Wellington has been the traditional home of AMCC bucket racing for many years.
The intensity of the racing should not be under-estimated, and many National level riders regularly compete at bucket events to help maintain an edge in their riding.
A highlight of the miniature road-race calendar, the AMCC 2-Hour meeting also features a 40 Lap event for novice grade riders, and an endurance race for the Bucket Sidecars also.
This sidecar race this year was taken out by Chris Lawrance and Achala Samarasekara, while David Millington took out the 40 lap event.
The 2-Hour turned out to be a race with higher than usual attrition. Seven of the eighteen starters failing to classify as finishers.
Favourites were Nathanael Diprose and Daniel Mettam aboard Diprose’s regular F4 mount.
They led the first half of the race, building a 4 lap lead in the process. However contact whilst lapping another competitor resulted in damage to their exhaust. A black flag for excessive noise was the outcome, and their run was over for 2017.
Jason Hearn and Blair Lambarth were already out (after a crash on lap 10), as were the Stroud brothers – Jacob and Jesse – who made it to lap 114.
Thru the carnage emerged Paul Ellis and Dylan Byrne, both regular contenders in the Bucket Series F4 class. Completing 224 laps in the two hours, the pair finished 6 laps up on Regan Griffihs.
2017 Bucket 2-Hour: (top 5)
224 Laps – Paul Ellis and Dylan Byrne
218 Laps – Regan Griffihs
217 Laps – Hayden Chick and Alex Butson
215 Laps – Henk Zeeven and Pumba
214 Laps – Ryan Fletcher and Will Killip
2017 Bucket 40 Lap: (top 3)
40 Laps – David Millington
40 Laps – Will Ford
39 Laps – Sharn Steadman
2017 Bucket Sidecar Endurance: (top 3)
19 Laps – Chris Lawrance and Achala Samarasekara
18 Laps – Sarah Lawrance and Richard Lawrance
17 Laps – Rick Ford and Henk Zeeven
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