Motorsport: Last of the 260 km/h races at Paeroa

By PETER JESSUP

Sunday is likely to be the last day that riders hit 260 km/h down the main drag at Paeroa, because organisers of the annual street races plan to alter the track to cut the speed of the fastest competitors.

A proposal to introduce a chicane into the 800m dog-legged "straight" from the Paeroa Hotel at the north of town to the Father's Tavern at the south was dropped after closer study suggested it would twice aim cornering bikes at the spectators.

The existing kink in the straight is the worry, where only a mesh sheep fence and hay bales stand between the thousands that line the circuit and the racers.

Three-time winner of the Battle of the Streets series and five-time Paeroa champion Tony Rees will resume his summer season this weekend. He skipped the last two South Island rounds of the road series to concentrate on relocating his Yamaha business to Whakatane.

Despite the time off, Rees will start slight favourite in the main events after three wins from three at the series opener in Wanganui. He's expected to lead a front-running pack that should include Suzuki privateer Brian Bernard from Wanganui and the Suzuki team of Andrew Stroud from Christchurch, Dean Fulton from Mt Maunganui and Shaun Harris of Palmerston North. Jason McEwen on his ST1 Honda is the rough chance.

Rees, the fastest around the 1.52km circuit for the past three years, isn't worried about the high speeds he hits in the sports production and open class races. The most danger, he reckons, is roaring up on the slowest bikes in the mixed-class races.

"There's all sorts out there and sometimes you're lapping them after the third or fourth lap - the danger's in traffic if two bikes clip," he said.

Rees said victory on Sunday meant a lot to him, given he'd surrendered a shot at the road title. The circuit should suit his Australian-built R1, which has been running sweetly in testing.

Race spokesman Graham Watton said the organisers' review of 2001 had thrown up the suggestion to bring the top-end speeds down a notch. When the chicane plan was scotched the idea of taking the bikes off the main road was considered but there was no time to seek a resource consent.

There have been no serious accidents at Paeroa and the stretch where bikes hit top gear is the widest and best-surfaced on the circuit. The safety rethink follows a series of motorsport accidents where organisers have been held responsible for injury to fans.

It was likely to be an item high on the agenda in the review of the racing, Watton said. The event's future was secured this week with a deal for three years' further sponsorship from Yamalube.

In the meantime organisers have increased fence heights and Machines must have a kill switch that stops the engine if the rider falls.

Nearly 180 riders will compete in the 12 races for classes including classics, post-classics and 600cc, where Harris has an almost unassailable lead, and the Robert Holden Classic, which is led by Rees.

The Bears (British, European and American) are back after an absence of several years when their club races clashed with the Paeroa date.

The sidecar event has attracted 18 combinations.