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Photo - Graeme Allan:
Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
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KAWASAKI TEAM GREEN - Press Release:
WORKING on the theory that it probably takes a champion to make a champion, Kawasaki New Zealand is embarking on a training scheme for its younger Team Green members that should see them reap rich rewards at the upcoming New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships later this month.
Multi-time former national champion Graeme Allan, of Christchurch, will take some of the country's up-and-comers under his wing on Sunday, April 10, as he hosts a pre-championships training day for Kawasaki junior riders, on farmland just north of Christchurch.
The New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships are barely a fortnight later, in New Plymouth on April 22-24.
Allan’s intensive one-day course, at the Harrison farm near Cheviot, will offer tips and advice on everything from walking the track to starts and tackling the first turn, from body positioning to speed jumping. “It's fair to say it will be an advanced school,” said Allan. “It will be more than just the basics and more suitable for riders who want to move on a bit from just learning to race. “I think the biggest thing that's lacking with young riders is consistency. It's no point getting the track right for 99 percent of the time if you stuff one up and lose several seconds. It's all about eliminating mistakes.”
The 39-year-old Allan is no stranger to off-road bike racing at the top level in New Zealand, but he perhaps first shot to prominence as an 18-year-old in 1984 when he finished runner-up to visiting Englishman Johnathon Wright in the 125cc motocross nationals that year. That was the year Kawasaki swept all before them in winning the 125cc (Wright), the 250cc title (Perry Leask) and the 500cc crown (Bryan Patterson).
Allan won the big annual Woodville GP in 1986 (the event's 25th anniversary) on his big KX500 and following that up a few weeks later by winning of the national 500cc motocross crown. The following year he raced a KX250 to the New Zealand No.1 spot in the 250cc class. Though now classified a veteran rider, Allan's still winning races.
He was New Zealand cross country champion, in the open four-stroke class, in 2003 and runner-up last year. In addition, Allan was national veterans champion (35-39 years group) in the 0-200cc class in 2002. Allan says he's impressed with the depth of talent among the young Kawasaki riders he's seen in the South Island recently.
He said it would be worth keeping an eye out for young riders such as Blenheim's Alistair Grinter and Woodend's Jamie Roberts.
