Taupo Track Day Madness

Ever since I made the upgrade from my KLX250 (a street legal dirtbike) to the Ducati Monster 600, I’ve been itching to have a go at a track, to let it rip, get to the end of the throttle, and not have to worry about the blue and red lights appearing behind me.  Red Baron, where I brought my first bike, decided to hold a track day at the Taupo track, coincidentally timed for my birthday! So it was that a beautiful Saturday morning saw the two of us depart Auckland, aiming to hit Taupo by lunch, have an afternoon taking in the sights and sounds of Taupo, then hit the track on the Sunday. Because no one likes being at work on their birthday, I booked the Monday off work, so we could take the more leisurely, interesting route up the west side of Lake Taupo.

Fortunately for both of us, it was an ‘Introduction to the Track’ day, so we were given tuition, coaching, and guidance all through the day. This meant we were never out of our depth, just comfortably challenged. While towards the end of the day it seemed more slanted to the more experienced racers (ie. they had a decent half hour of constant lapping while the newer ones got 10 minutes), the day was very beneficial, especially for learner riders, who were able to take their bike further towards the upper limit of their abilities. The track is an excellent sterile training ground, riders can concentrate on the pure dynamics of the bike, without having to worry about road surface, other traffic, or laws.

As a whole, the trip was amazing, the sort of trip that is better summed up in photos rather than boring ol’ words, so without more dribble from me, here’s some snaps! (more to come once my film gets developed…)