Jake Whitaker

                                                     In Support of Jake Whitaker

Aaron Slight is a former World Champion Motorcycle Road Racer. In his 17 year motorcycling career he has participated in 229 World Super Bike Races, Scoring 87 podium finishes and 13 victories.

Come and meet Aaron and hear some of his stories about his career of thrills and spills.

When: Wednesday 19th November 2008

Where: Rosewood Estate, Moores Valley, Wainuiomata

Time: 7pm to 9pm

Tickets: $45.00 per person, includes a light supper, tea and Coffee. Cash bar operating

Tickets strictly limited to 100 and available by emailing rosewoodestate@paradise.net.nz

All tickets pre sold, no door sales

All proceeds to Jake Whitaker, to assist in his World Trials Campaign for 2008/2009

This year the three days of the NZ champs were held way down South in Alexandra, one of my favourite places to ride. We left early Tuesday and arrived down in Alex Wednesday afternoon so I had a good few days of practise and getting used to the bike that I was riding for the weekend, a 250 Honda Montesa 4 stroke.

By the time Saturday came around I was feeling really good about things and started the event off well losing two points for the whole day. The sections were a little on the tame side which in a way actually made it harder on the riders as every single point was going to make a difference to the result as the points were very low. Sunday was really good, the sections were set at a good level with some bigger steps than the day before. I was riding well and after the four laps of the ten sections still had no points on my card which was an awesome achievement for me. 

Going into the last day I was confident and not only had a goal to win but to have another four cards with no points on them, after a few close calls fighting against the wind and some awesome riding I achieved my goal, two clean days and the NZ champion for the second time in a row.

Once again it was a team effort so a big thanks to the people below.

Mum and DAD, Karl and Debbie Clark, Brendon and Cathy Wadsworth and the Oliver Family.

cheers guys and thanks again for a wicked year.  

Hi guys,

Well last Monday me Dad and Nick Ball (my minder) all flew out to Melbourne to get a few days on the bike before the trial on Saturday and Sunday. During training i felt really strong and comfortable on the bike and was really feeling confident with Nick and was looking forward to the event.

Saturday morning i started off a little nervy and had a couple of unlucky fives on the first half of the lap as i was feeling the pressure. After a good pep talk with Dad and Nick i soon settled in and started to get a rhythm going on but at the end of the day was only good enough for 4th. On Sunday i felt a lot more relaxed in the sections which reflected in my riding as i posted the lowest scores all day. The sections were really big all weekend so i was well at home on the big grippy rocks so i was enjoying my ride as well. After winning on Sunday this put me in 2nd overall for the championship, so not quite what i went over for but still to come back from 4th was a big effort.

I would like to give a big thanks to Tarp at Montesa Australia for all his help, the bike was awesome couldn’t have been better. Mum and Dad. Dad for all the encouragement and advice over the week and of course Nick for doing a wicked job minding keeping me focoused and relaxed when it wasn’t going too well. It was a team effort and we were really close to pulling it off so thanks guys. I hope i can pay back the favour when we go over and win it next year.

Cheers

Jake

Hi Everyone

Just a quick note to let you all know that Jake is currently over in Australia competing in the Australian Title and is looking for a top finish.  He has been training hard over the last few weeks and is really looking forward to competing in the New Zealand Championship in Alexandra at Labour Weekend.  I’m sure that he will fill you all in on how he went in Australia when he gets back.

Thanks

We flew out to Spain on Friday morning.  We arrived at the paddock round lunch time and in the afternoon we had a practice and walked the sections.  The sections looked difficult and very long so time was going to be hard.

On Saturday the women’s championship was held and also the men’s practice and after we were able to watch some of the women ride.  Sunday I started off feeling good but not so long into the first lap things were not starting to go to plan.  I was making some stupid mistakes and were struggling to get into a good rhythm.  My second lap was a little better but still not as good as I hoped.  I rode my last section in Europe on a man made section and cleaned it perfectly so I was happy with that but would have liked to have had more of these during the day.  I finished 12^th for the day and finished the overall Championship in 10^th. 

Afterwards we watched Toni Bou win his second World Outdoor Championship in style making the last man made section look so easy on the back wheel.  Said goodbye to James and Jack as they are heading back to England and wont get to see them before I go back home.  We leave to come home on Thursday so I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone when I get back home.

My next major event is competing in the Aussie Champs in a few weeks time.

Thanks to Karl for doing a great job minding over the season and also the rest of the Clark family for their support while I have been here. 

Thanks also to those who have sent me emails, txt and phone calls over this year and not forgetting my family back home because without them I wouldn’t have had this awesome experience this year.  So THANKS!!!!!

See you all soon.

Jake

Hi guys sorry to take so long to write about how i got on. Well as you know i won the international class which was nice to be able to get up on the top step of the podium. Sunday i felt i was riding well and had a good first lap of 16. I started my second lap off well but on section 4 i had a five on the last double step close to the end. After that i rode pritty well apart from another 5  i finished that lap with 20 points.

I enjoyed the weekend and im looking forward to spain this coming weekend. A big thanks to Karl for his awesome proformance minding again.

Cheers

Jake 

Just a quick note to say Jake finished 1^st on the Saturday in the International class riding the youth line.  The international grade is a grade for non European riders to compete in.

Sunday world round Jake finished off a strong 11^th position and still holds onto his 10^th position overall going into the last world round in spain this weekend.

Jake will up date you more in depth when he gets the chance.

Karl and Debbie

We left Friday around lunch time and drove to an indoor trial that was held that night. That finished around 11.30pm. We had about a 4 hour drive to the paddock of the outdoor round, which was held very close to the French boarder way up in the mountains.

Saturday was practise and walking the sections and as we were quit a few meters above sea leavel the bike was really strougling to even do the smalest things. The sections looked good but i wasnt feeling to confident on how the bike was running. On Sunday i started off not to bad but when we got to some of the more bigger sections i was having some big crashes and it was getting very frushtrating, we pushed on and just had to try and get the bike through the sections . I finished the day off in 7th place which considering how the bike was proforming i was happy but at the same time alittle disapointed as i didnt have an even playing feld with the other riders.

Now im back at the workshop and getting ready to leave for the next world round in Portogal.

Big thanks to Karl for minding and Mum and Dad and the rest of the family back home.

Cheers

Jake 

We left Italy on Thursday and arrived at the paddock in Sweden on Thursday afternoon after a two hour flight, a ferry crossing and then a four hour drive.  We were all feeling pretty tired but the truck still had to be set up.

Friday had a practice in the morning for a few hours and I liked the terrain as it was big rocks by a side of a hill.  In the afternoon was sign in and bike inspection.  Then Saturday morning was the European Championship that I took part in as it would give me an equal advantage for the Sunday as all the sections ridden on the Saturday stayed the same for the World Round on the Sunday. 

Didn’t have such a good day on the Saturday and things didn’t go my way all day but it was good to see how the sections were going to ride and change for the more important day on Sunday.

Sunday morning I felt really good and on the first lap I only had lost a few points and losing a few threes on the more of the harder sections towards the end of the lap.  At the start of the second lap I had a unfortunate five on the second section which cost me a few placings as with a trial like this one the sections were a little on the easy side and this makes it difficult to come back from a mistake.  I was able to improve on the rest of the sections and still had a fairly consistent lap compared to the first lap improving by one more point.  I ended up 10^th overall for the day which I felt good about it as during the day I felt really confident and focused. 

This weekend we have an Italian round followed by the Portugal round then Spain then we are on our way home.

Big thanks to Karl for doing another great job minding.

Also thanks to Mum and Dad.

Jake waiting in line (far left on bike)

One of the sections

Well this week i have had the week off the bike and just doing some fitnees which has been good. We were able to take the team van for the week to,as the workshop is closed because its a holiday so we went driving around cheeking out some sites. On Thursday we drove up this mountain close to were we are living, parts of the road were a bit scary with some massive dropes off the side of them. Once we got to the top there was a good view of the town so we spent awhile trying to figger out where the workshop was and the Karl and Debbies appartment.

Last night we went to a fireworks display down at the local church so that was pritty impresive to see. The weather over here is still hot as but we had a storm the other night and there was heaps of fork lighting and thunder about but then the next morning it was hot as again.

Back into it on Monday still with a few weeks to go to the next event but will be able to get some good time on the bike before then.

Catch ya later

Jake