Pete Thornton, Miles Dickey, Phil Riddle, Dave
Riddle, Colin Riddle, Rob Prescott, Craig and
Lance Kerr, to name a few.
The Dickey property became the venue for
the Club’s Annual Hare Scramble. This was
our lead up to the National Series, which was
an eight round series spread over NZ in those
days. The Matahura property (McGovern’s)
used to be Pukekohe’s premier National Track
and it hosted up to 200 riders per event for
many years.
By 1990, it became obvious that the sport
was waning a little and the area needed an
event that encouraged more riders into the
sport and provided a better lead up to the
National series without having to travel too
far. It would also provide somewhere for the
many trail riders to try their hand at the next
level of competition.
A naïve bunch of PMCC committee members
keen on Hare Scrambles, which included
Grant Dickey, Raymond Reid, Ian Freer and
myself, decided to talk with other similar
minded Clubs with the view of creating an
Interclub series and getting some club spirit
and comradeship back into the sport. The Tri
Series or Club of Origin series was formulated
and this series of events was held with great
success between Pukekohe, Rodney and
Huntly Clubs.
After two years of running and some
unwillingness by some to maintain
consistency, it died a natural death and the
infamous three handled trophy that was
created seems to have been misplaced.
However, during this period between 1991
and 1993, the Bel-Ray was conceived.
PENNING THE DEAL
My business was starting to really take off
and a close association with the Director of
Kawasaki NZ, Mike Wilkins and his partner
of the time Ian Beckhaus, meant their sister
company, Northern Accessories, was one of
my main sources of accessory product.
Kay and I needed a regular supply of good
quality motorcycle oil for retail and shop use,
so we penned a deal with Northern’s manager
at the time, Geoff Robinson, for Bel-Ray. Part
of the deal was that they would be a sponsor
of a Hare Scramble Series to be known as The
Bel-Ray.
At the same time, I became involved at MNZ
level and became one of the first Off-Road
Commissioners. This early commission had
a very good bunch of passionate people and
we were able to lay down some changes for
the future, one of which was to rebrand Hare
Scrambles. Hence, the Cross Country era was
born.
To launch this new series I called on an
A couple of junior winners have gone
on to win the senior event too
KIWI RIDER 33