Round 3 Wrap
Race day: 16 Nov 2025
A better weather day we could not have wished for. Round 3 of the Carl Cox Motorsport Cup would be run by our friends at the Auckland Motorcycle Club under warm, blue skys with no wind to speak of. A Spring Spanker! Entries were a little light especially from the Hyosung class with only 12 bikes. The Ninjas were well represented though with 17 on the grid set for a brilliant days racing and the 7th running of our 1 Hour race sponsored by the legendary Kiwibike Insurance.
Riley Fowles is relishing the bigger, faster Ninja this season and laid down a pole marker time of 1:17.316 followed closely by Joe Stroud, Tim Gray and Megan rounding out the front row. Row 2 was Bretty Butler with an impressive P5, Justin “with a seat” Reid P6, Benny Cook P7 and Andy Ansell completing that row. Good to have Lozza back after a quick hospital visit for appendix removal, he should have been a bit faster with that weight reduction surgery I thought though.
The Hyosung’s were again led by Scotty Findlay by a good margin with a 1:24.780 making his intentions very clear to the pack. Troy Fowles was next but 1.3s back and headed Jack Harrison and Alyssa Boyd. Row 2 was Riley McGettigan, Nick Trigger, Lachlan Stace and Jarrod Thompson. Lachlan bought a spare bike which solved his issues with his original race bike and is ready to get amongst the action. Awesome to have all 5 ladies back competing for the Women’s Cup also, Megan, Vicky on the Ninjas and Alyssa, Shelley and Amy on the 250’s.
Scotty Findlay GT250R – Philip Kaverman pic
We were fortunate to get in two sprint races for all Cup racers as we only had 3 non-regular racers in as co riders so the co rider race was turned into a points race. In the Ninja Cup Joe broke the pack on lap 1 and a 4 way fight ensued behind him for P2 involving Justin, Benny, Megan and Tim. This was really good to watch as this 4 could have been covered by a blanket most of the race and was the top 5 at the flag with just 0.3 covering P2-P5. Lucas was also closing on this group fast from his P13 grid position and setting the fastest lap of 1:15.581. Andy Ansell was lonely in 7th but close fighting behind him with Callum Mason and Alex Le Comte crossing the line side by side to the thousandths of a second.
Scotty and Alyssa were straight into battle on their GT250R’s. Never more than 0.3 apart and toooo close in turn 6, lap 5 when Alyssa found the weeds after posting the fastest lap. Fortunately she was unhurt and Scotty went on for the win by 1.6 over Jack Harrison and then it was Troy in P3, Riley flying now in P4, Nick P5 and Lachlan enjoying a reliable bike and riding well for P6.
Alyssa and Jack GT250R’s - Philip Kaverman pic
Joe wins race 2 by over 4 seconds and leaves a best lap just 1 second outside his brother Jesses lap record. He is really riding well and enjoying the Ninja 400. What a stunning ride by Megan also for a Cup best finish for her of P2! Her has refined her smooth style and gained more speed to boost her track position in a very competitive field. Our youngest racer Lucas was just 0.9 behind Megz in a group with Tim, Benny and Justin. Lozza feeling the e ects of recent surgery managed to come home P7, not his usual P6. So many battle groups it was really exciting to watch throughout the field. Dad beats son in the Le Comte household again by just 0.016, they are really having fun out there.
Go Joe Stroud – Philip Kaverman pic
The Hyosung race was a repeat of the race 1 top 3. Scotty, Jack and Troy with a gap between each larger than we are used to in this class. Alyssa was also lonely in P4 and it was Jarrod Thompson and Riley fighting closely for P5 and 6. Great to see Shelley getting a PB also and now the ‘29’s are not far away for her.
During the lunch break the draw was made for the new Suzuki GSX150F and a new RST Airbag race suit. Eligibility was just to enter and compete at all 3 rounds of the AMCC Championship. Well two lucky Cup racers were the winners with Too Tall Trent McDiarmid wheeling away the bike and Jack Harrison taking home a brand new and very safe race suit! Congratulations guys!
The winners smiles Trent and Jack – Philp Kaverman pic
And then it was the Kiwibike Insurance 1 Hour. Scheduled to start at 3:45pm we eventually got started at 4:35pm. This is our feature race of the season and many Cup racers Team up or bring in another non Cup racer to gain a bonus 20 points, others like to solo the hour either because they have no friends or love racing so much they don’t want to share, haha. All riders must stop during the pit window which is 20 minutes into the race and closes 40 minutes in. Solo riders must stop for 20 seconds and Teams for 10 seconds. Our system is simple but works well and I had great help from some Cup fans in the pit stop lanes timing each riders stop.
3 Teams popped into the P1 position during the race as the pit stops had their e ect. Joe and Jesse, Megz and Luca then Benny and Lozza. The Ninja Cup included 3 Ninja Cup Champions and 2 previous Hyosung Cup Champions.
Luca Durning made a welcome return to the Cup riding with Megz. Luca won the 1 Hour at Taupo in 2020 and last weekend was racing a Panagali V4R in ASBK. It was a drama free race and no DNF’s for the Ninjas which was amazing. Some super quick lap times recorded by Tyler and Jesse nudging the 1:14.5’s. The top four Teams all recorded 45 laps of racing with two pairs of brothers taking the P1 and P2 positions. They were Joe and Jesse Stroud, Lucas and Tyler and then a very impressive P3 by Megz and Luca. Tim and Nixon Frost came home P4, Benny and Lozza a fine P5 and Justin riding with Hyosung Cup Champion Alex “Butman” Butson in P6. Our 2 solo 1 hour racers were Callum in P10 and Robbie Whitlock P14. Our “never Cup raced before” riders were Nixon Frost, Mark Halls and Glen Horne.
The Hyosung 1 Hour grid was down to 9 bikes as Teams were formed with other Cup racers. So a grid of 23 total was quite a good size considering a longer race and lots of passing going on. Again 3 Teams held P1 at some stage of the race. Early domination by Scotty riding solo, then a turn taken by Alyssa and Cameron Leslie and also Troy and Nick during the pit stop phase. Cam Leslie is a past Hyosung Cup Champion and Teamed up with Alyssa on his old Cup bike. Cam jumped on his bike after the pit stop and slowly ran Scotty down. On lap 37 Cam puts in a 1:24.159 lap and despite Scotty’s fastest lap being his last Cam pipped him by 0.005 of a second to win! That’s about 200mm or less than half a front wheel. The closest finish in 1 Hour history and indeed maybe the 15 years of Cup racing. P3 went to Troy and Nick 1 lap down followed by Lachlan and Jack and another father son Team of Riley and Jon McGettigan. Its been 10 years since we had Jon in the Cup and great to have him back supporting his boy riley and riding well. Shelley came home P7 with son Rico and Amy Teamed up with past fast chick Tam Hickey for P8. Our only DNF was Dylan and Xavier with a fuelling issue on their GT250R.
The Kiwibike Insurance 1 Hour bursts into life – Philip Kaverman pic
That’s it Folks and Fans – PhilipKaverman pic
So that’s done, the 7th running of the Carl Cox Motorsport 1 Hour sponsored by Kiwibike Insurance (such awesome Cup sponsors!) What a day. Massive thanks must go to the entire AMCC Team of volunteers and also the Hampton Downs management for allowing us to complete out prizegiving and BBQ which is a special time we share at the end of every Cup round. Thank you to every rider who continues to participate and support the Cup, we have something quite special here.
Without Cup sponsors, Carl Cox Motorsport, Kawasaki NZ, AMCC, Nolan, Bridgestone, WIL Sport, MTF Finance Wairau Valley, Passmasters NZ, Kiwibike Insurance and Motul NZ we wouldn’t have this unique and special series to race in so THANK YOU ALL!
I left the circuit at 7pm and was totally ready for a sit down with a cold beer I can tell you. Good luck to all racers competing in the Suzuki Series and NZSBK and enjoy our summer break and Christmas. See you in March!
