Come Boxing Day, Shane Foster will be living the dream.
The Wanganui motorcycle racing fanatic will be competing rather than watching on his beloved Cemetery Circuit.
Since he was about 15, Foster has been a regular spectator at his home track on Boxing Day and always had a hankering to race on the circuit.
"I've been to every meeting bar the odd one since I was 15 and I'd always thought it would be neat to race there - now I will be. I'm not saying I'll be competitive, but I'll be out there doing it," Foster said.
In recent years, Foster has worked on offshore oil rigs off Australia's Northern Territory and during downtime was browsing Trade Me and came across a bike for sale. It was a cast-off machine from Andrew Stroud's stable. Stroud is the current favourite to take out the F1 Tri Series, with wins already in the bag from rounds one and two at Hampton Downs and Manfeild.
"I waited until it came down in price on Trade Me and then my wife Janine haggled with him and got it down even further to a price we could afford. I've had it about 10 months now and tinkered with to suit my weight, which is a bit higher than Stroud's, I'd say," Foster said. The machine is a GSXR 1000 Suzuki.
To qualify for racing on a street circuit, racers must have at least three track meetings under their belt. Foster has competed in three of the five race winter series at Manfeild this season.
Motor racing can be an expensive hobby, but Foster has support from major sponsors the Fordell Hotel and PolarBright, a chilly bin tilt sensor light invented by an expat Scotsman living in Wanganui. "I'm looking forward to Boxing Day and then I fly back to work on the rigs the following day - that's if I'm still in one piece," Foster said.