CRAZY RACES – 2016 Burt Munro Challenge

The 2005 movie World’s Fastest Indian may have made Burt Munro and Invercargill household names around the globe, but for the locals of New Zealand’s most southern city, Burt and his famous Indian Scout are just part of everyday life. And while Munro’s land-speed record achievements on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats are well documented in the record books, it’s his achievements as a habitual tinkerer in the old shed he called home, and his speed on the sands of Invercargill’s Oreti beach, that made him a local legend.

For the past 11 years, Invercargill has welcomed visitors to what is surely the only event of its kind in the world. It’s a motorcycling extravaganza that will test even the most hardened fanatic, and that’s just the spectators – competitors are at a level of commitment only Burt himself could fathom. 

The Burt Munro Challenge is run by the local Southland Motorcycle Club, of which Munro was, and still is, a member. The annual challenge that celebrates his life features six racing events held over an action-packed four days: hill climb, supercross, beach racing, circuit racing, speedway and street racing are all contested. And while the disciplines seem wildly different, through the course of his life Munro competed in all these events – or at least an early incarnation of them.

If you don’t think the non-stop itinerary is enough to test you, the fact that the next stop south from Invercargill is Antarctica means the weather can turn on a dime. Phillip Island has nothing on this place. Interestingly, those who make the annual pilgrimage accept and even embrace this as part of the overall Munro experience. Many oppose talk of a date change. The feeling is, if Munro had been concerned about a bit of lousy weather he would have barely made it out of his famous shed to test the latest modification to his 1920 Indian Scout.

I happily agreed to tackle the 2016 Burt Munro Challenge, and as I rode down to Invercargill for the first time I realised my mental picture of Burt Munro and the town he called home were all Anthony Hopkins and Hollywood cinematography. This would change over the next five days as I absorbed the atmosphere of an event that captures racing in its purest form – enjoyment and spectacle.

The city of Invercargill is bigger than I expected, with a bustling 115km2 urban area inhabited by a population of 50,000 people. And they all seem to know each other. The population increases by around 20,000 during the Munro Challenge, but there’s enough room for everybody. Many brave souls camp at the Munro Rally Campground, which is just a short walk to Oreti Park Speedway and Oreti Beach.

Officially the opening event of the Burt Munro Challenge is Thursday’s Hill Climb at the port town of Bluff. Unofficially, any self-respecting motorcyclist will kick off their Burt Munro Challenge pilgrimage at E Hayes Hardware and Engineering. The family-owned store is run by Neville Hayes, son of Irving Hayes who was a friend, financial backer to Munro – as well as a fellow racer. The store is part genuine hardware store, part variety store, and an unrivalled Burt Munro Museum. Hayes purchased Burt’s bikes and a lot of his equipment, which is now on display around the store and intermingled with machinery, classic bikes and cars owned and raced by Hayes Jnr and Snr. This year’s event also saw the opening of the new Motorcycle Mecca museum in Invercargill’s main street. The 300 bikes on show were purchased from collector Tom Sturgess by the locally owned Transport World Group and moved from Nelson, at the opposite end of the South Island, to their new home in a beautifully restored two-story building.

Event One

Bluff Hill Climb

Day 1 was the first of two double-headers. Having a southern latitude of 46º means that in summer, nightfall doesn’t arrive until well after 9.30pm. This allows for two major events to be held in one day without the need for lighting.

The Bluff Hill Climb is one of a number of events Munro himself competed in with the Southland Motorcycle Club.

Apart from Supercross and Speedway, each of the Burt Munro Challenge events is an entertaining mixture of modern and classic machinery that compete over a wide variety of classes.

While the constant rain and howling wind prevented this year’s special guest Guy Martin from taking to the hill on his beautiful Martek-framed Suzuki 1100 Turbo (as featured in Vol 65 No 16), Aussie legend Alan Kempster was keen to have a go. Unfortunately, on his second run he hit a patch of fluid resulting in a huge tankslapper. He put up a brave fight but trying to regain control with just one arm and leg was even too much for Alan to achieve. The bike spat him off, dislocating his thumb and putting him out of the remainder of the event. The testing conditions meant the nimbleness of the motard bikes had the wood on the more powerful sportsbikes, and it was Kiwi Andrew Rudd, from Ashburton, who claimed the fastest run of the day, finishing the steep climb in 51.66 seconds on his Honda CRF450.

Event Two

Supercross

The Honda NZ Supercross Championships is held at Winton, an enjoyable 20-minute ride (30km) north from Invercargill. The tight and technical track is located just outside the Winton township which has thrived since the 1850s on constantly changing industries, including sheep farming, dairy, flax and sawmills. All this is reflected in its architecture.

The event draws some big motocross names, and this year saw Kiwi top guns Ben Townley, Josh Coppins and Cody Cooper battle for top honours with 32-year-old Townley taking the title. Fifth overall for the round was Mitch Rees, a member of the Rees family that would stamp its name firmly on the 2016 Munro Challenge. 

Event Three

Oreti Beach Race

Of the six events that make up the Burt Munro Challenge, none are more synonymous with Munro than the Oreti Beach race held on day two. The Indian Motorcycle New Zealand Beach Race Championships is New Zealand’s oldest motorcycling trophy and arguably the event’s most sought after silverware.

Oreti beach is easy to find. Just ride 10 minutes west out of town on Dunes Road and keep going until the road turns into the beach – literally. The hard-packed surface allows you to ride straight from the road onto the sand.

Oreti Beach is where Munro often tested modifications to his famous Indian Scout, and used the compressed flat sand – hardened by the outgoing tide – to set a number of New Zealand speed records.

This year more than 2000 spectators lined the sand hills along the course, which runs a half mile down the beach, around a large drum and back to a similar drum near the start-finish line. Sound easy? It’s not. Sprint events of varying lengths are held throughout the afternoon, and the sight of large capacity roadbikes – old and new – racing on knobby tyres never gets boring. While TT legend Guy Martin entertained the crown racing a Honda CRF450 to a mid-pack finish, it was defending champion Josh Coppins who claimed the 50-lap (50-mile) final to claim his second title in as many years.

Coppins race time of 44m58.566s saw him lap the one-mile course every 50 seconds, posting a top speed of 112.121km/h on his Yamaha. Impressive, but still only around half the 136mph (218km/h) Munro reached on the same stretch of sand in 1975 when he set a New Zealand speed record on his Scout.

Event Four

Speedway Spectacular

While Munro may be most famous for his exploits on the salt flat of Bonneville, in his younger days Burt and his Indian competed in all manner of racing, including a bit of broadside sliding action, but not at Invercargill’s speedway.

The small grass mound that surrounds the Oreti Speedway struggled to hold the large crowd that gathered for Friday’s second event, the Burt Munro Spectacular. With junior and senior solo bikes and sidecars racing on the packed program, there was plenty to keep the fans entertained. The highlight of the evening came when Guy Martin accepted a challenge to pilot a Yamaha-R1-powered speedway sidecar. Despite having no prior sidecar experience, Martin took to the task with his trademark all-guns-blazing style and quickly had the three-wheeler sliding around the dirt track at race speed with Jacob Cooper working swinger duties. A Youtube search of Guy Martin speedway sidecar will reveal just how naturally gifted the Isle of Man TT star is.

Event Five

Teretonga Circuit Races

With four events down and just two to run, Saturday’s race meeting at the beautiful Teretonga Park was the perfect way to rest tired bones feeling the effects of a racing marathon. Burt Munro raced at the Teretonga circuit on a number of occasions, so it’s only fitting that the event is sponsored by his biggest supporter, E Hayes and Sons.

Under a warming sun, all nine categories enjoyed qualifying and three races on the flowing 2.57km circuit. Everything from the high-performance Formula 1 bikes of race winners Tony Rees and Alastair Hoogenboezem, to a pre-1972 category Vespa ridden at great speed by the courageous Matthew Brookes, put on a great day’s racing. With cars and bikes able to park right up against the fence at the best vantage points, the circuit is reminiscent of long lost Australian tracks such as Sydney’s Oran Park.

Event Six

Street Races

Up until last year, the famous street racers were held at Wyndham, 42km east of Invercargill. In 2015 they were run for the first time on the roads around the industrial area on the fringe of Invercargill’s CBD. The new location makes the event more central for those visiting the area, but opinion remains divided on which location is better for racing. Unfortunately, Saturday’s sunny weather couldn’t hold out until Sunday, and the sound of wild wind, rain and intermittent hail dragged competitors from their sleep as the sun attempted to rise. Much to their credit, and despite the difficult conditions, event organisers pushed ahead and managed to get through some of the program before it became too wet, windy and dangerous to continue. Once again the Rees family of brothers Mitch and Damon, and dad Tony were at the front, scoring a 1-2-3 in the Formula 1 class. Guy Martin finally got his Martek out on track for the fans, and even with the boost turned right down to make the machine rideable on the slippery road surface, it still had plenty of beast in it. Martin has vowed to return to the Burt Munro Challenge with his handmade bike as it’s one of only a few events in the world it’s eligible to enter.

Trophy time

At the post-event presentation, Burt Munro’s son John presented Invercargill local Gary Wells with the prestigious Burt Munro Trophy. The yearly award is given to the rider that displays the values by which Burt himself conducted his racing and his life. The rider must maintain their own machines, make their own parts and give everything they have to win. Gary contested the hill climb as well as the beach, circuit and street race on his 650cc Matchless Rickman.

Attending six race events in just four days is an exhausting but unique experience that only the Burt Munro Challenge can deliver. Adding to the spectacle is a friendly, almost old-school feeling the Southland Motorcycle Club injects into the event. You get the sense this is the way they roll.

Fellow Kiwi legend Barry Briggs said in his recent interview with AMCN (Vol 66 No 10) that it was a shame Burt died without knowing he was a world star. If he was anything like the Invercargill locals I had the pleasure of spending time with, I don’t think he would have been too fussed. For him, it was all about the motorcycle.

Getting there

I flew into Queenstown with Air New Zealand www.airnewzealand.com.au.

My transport, a Honda Africa Twin, was hired from comotorcyclehire.co.nz in Central Otago. Dave and Janeen will happily collect you from Queenstown airport for hire bookings of two or more days. If you want to base yourself in the stunning region of Central Otago, you can book yourself into their awesome B&B which is a stone’s throw from the historic Bannockburn Hotel and a day’s ride to just about anywhere on the South Island.

Further information about visiting Invercargill and the Southland region can be obtained from the team at Venture Southland:

southlandnz.com

Look for our feature on touring New Zealand’s Southland in an upcoming issue of AMCN.