Motorcycle racing ace Aaron Slight thinks a school programme that encourages secondary school students to build and compete with their own motorcycles was exactly what he needed to keep in class.
He recalls how he struggled to stay in the classroom when he was a teen in Masterton, especially after his dad bought him a trail bike to ride to school.
“I must admit there were quite a few lunchbreaks when I’d head off down to the river on the bike and forget to come back,” says the 43-year-old, who raced motorcycles internationally for more than a decade before retiring in 2001.
“When you get to that age, you do tend to lose focus on why school is important.”
Which is why the multiple world superbike champion has readily given his enthusiastic support to the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Mini Moto Grand Prix at Manfeild on October 20-21.
Some 180 riders from a dozen schools, from as far afield as Nelson, Whakatane and Mercury Bay, will be on the 1.5km back circuit to test their racing mettle and engineering skills with 50cc machines they designed and built to gain unit standards.
The students start with a $380 kit that delivers wheels, an engine and brakes then go from there.
Slight admits he knew nothing much about the event before being asked to guest at this year’s prizegiving, but has become so enthused he intends to be trackside to see the racing first-hand.
“I’m really keen to see the racing. It’s a great idea and sounds like huge fun.”
Slight worked in a motorcycle shop as an after-school job so can appreciate the effort the students will have put into preparing their machines. He says the size of the machines is hardly an issue.
Just remember how a certain multiple MotoGP champ from Italy learned his racecraft, he says.
“Valentino Rossi started out on exactly the same thing … he learned his craft on pocket racers and look where he is now.”
One particular bike will be familiar to the winner of 13 world superbike championships, the Manfeild six-hour and a record three successive Suzuka eight-hours.
Feilding High School student Troy Simonsen has been inspired to deck out his own bike as a replica of Slight’s famous Castrol Honda.
The difference in size also reflects in speed, of course. The fastest speed Slight saw out of a superbike, 326kmh, is quadruple the maximum pace of the handful of water-cooled minibikes that’ll make a first-time appearance at Manfeild. Most of the students are on air-cooled bikes that top out at 50kmh.
This year’s event completely overshadows the inaugural outing in 2008, with three times as many schools, almost four times as many bikes and two days of racing instead of one. There are more categories, including sidecars, and, to make races fair, weight classes.
The schools gather next Monday, October 19, and then get right into racing the next morning.
It’s all good fun – and the students also earn NCEA credits for their endeavours.
Roger Emmerson, the Feilding High School technology department engineering guru who thought up the concept, says although four schools have had to pull out this week because their bikes are not completed, the overall response is still amazing.
“The event has drawn entries from all around the central North Island. It’s going to be a great couple of days.”
The project began to take shape after Mr Emmerson recognised some years ago that students were not being sufficiently motivated by orthodox classroom instruction.
The keen competition motorcyclist decided only a hands-on project would excite the youths and leave them with something they could be truly proud to call their own.
Those hopes have been exceeded. Last year he found the regular classes were not enough; many participants came back to continue work after school, or during free periods.
The project teaches a host of engineering and problem-solving skills and is cross-curricular, with science, English and maths.
“I felt that we must deliver courses that prepared 17-year-old school leavers with skills, experience and interest for future employment.”
The interest the project had stirred up in students exceeded his expectations, and students – and schools – are asking about next year’s programme.
Palmerston North UCOL is a sponsor and racing is being overseen by Motorcycling New Zealand.
The races will be over varying distances, from three-lap sprint events to longer-duration endures.
“It’s fantastic that Manfeild can play a role in an event that is educational, fun and truly hands-on,” noted Manfeild Park Trust chief executive Heather Verry.
“Manfeild has hosted some fantastic motorcycling events but this is definitely something different again and we know the competitors, their families and friends will be in for a great time.”
Participating schools are: Central Hawke’s Bay College, Feilding High School, Gisborne Boys’ High School, Karamu College (Hastings), Lytton High School (Gisborne), Mercury Bay Area School, Nelson College, Rangitikei College (Marton), St Peter’s College, Wairoa College, Wanganui Collegiate and Whakatane High School.
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