- Major engine failure nearly sidelines the OW01 before Hampton Downs round of NZCMRR round 2
- Last-minute engine swap leads to a personal best lap time despite less power
- Strong field tackled with race wins and a hard-fought comeback performance
‘Racer Turned Trainer’ BRM columnist Paul Pavletich didn’t have it easy for round two of the NZ Classic Motorcycle Racing Register series. Luckily, he’s not the only one with skills as brother and chief mechanic Mark came to the rescue.
Been a while since I wrote an article, so I thought I’d give you an update on what’s been happening.
Recently, I’ve been riding the Yamaha OW01 a lot, and we were gearing up for round two of the NZCMRR series at Hampton Downs. I’ll admit I was a little bit lazy with my physical preparation for this one — and that wasn’t ideal given what was about to unfold.
Mark had spent weeks rebuilding the OW01 after eight races and practice days from the Suzuki series. He’s meticulous with his work — it’s not just about speed and reliability, safety is always front of mind. A failure doesn’t just affect me, it could hurt others too.
Engine Drama
We got the bike running about two weeks before Hampton and I was carefully running it in at around 6000rpm. On the sixth lap, it started making a knocking noise — fortunately just before pit entry — so I killed the motor immediately.
Back in the pits, I told Mark what had happened and he turned pale. Failures like this just don’t happen to us. He immediately started questioning whether he’d made a mistake during assembly, but I reassured him — he’s the man, and that wasn’t the issue.
We loaded the bike up and headed home. I told Mark I’d pull out of the Hampton round, but he just looked at me and said, “What? Are you kidding me?”
We had a spare wet bike motor. His thinking was simple — if we got stuck in, we could still make it.
The Last-Minute Fix
So, with that energy behind us, we went for it. I drove down to Putaruru and we managed an engine swap in record time. The replacement motor was something of a bitsa — cobbled together from spares — but it proved to be worth its weight in gold.
On paper, it was down on power — about 25hp off our “A” motor and 13hp down on the “B” motor we ran in the Suzuki series.
Here’s the funny part: I went out and did my fastest-ever lap on the OW01 with the least powerful engine — a 1:08.7. Go figure.
After stripping the damaged engine, Mark found the cause. A brand-new starter motor/alternator drive chain tensioner — straight out of a sealed packet — had fallen apart after becoming brittle. The rubber broke up, blocked the oil pump pickup, and the result was a big end failure from oil starvation.
I guess that’s the risk when you’re dealing with 30-year-old “new” parts.
A Stacked Field
We made it to Hampton, and I was feeling confident after winning the Suzuki series. But that confidence got a reality check pretty quickly when I looked at the entry list.
The field was stacked with fast guys in the pre-89 and 95 class.
Brendan Coad, a former F3 national champion, was there on an 888 Ducati. Jordan Burley was on his seriously quick Honda VF750. Gian Louie — a multiple-time Suzuki series winner — was on a GSX1100R. Then there was Ivan Smith (CBR900), Neil Slater (FZR1000), and Russell Josiah on a ZXR750 — a former national Superbike champion.
No easy races here.
I managed to qualify fastest with a low 1:10, which I was happy with.
Race One: Making Amends
Race one didn’t go quite to plan off the line. From pole, I made an average start and found myself third into turn one, with Burley leading and Coad in second.
Heading into turn two — always a tricky corner at Hampton — I’ll admit I saw a bit of red after messing up the start. I fired the OW01 up the inside of Coad with the rear chattering. It was probably a bit over the top.
I made the pass, but we both ran wide, which handed Burley a decent lead.
From there, it was all about chasing him down. I put in my best-ever lap times and managed to get past him on lap six to take the win. Burley came home second, with Slater continuing his strong form in third.
After the race, I went over and apologised to Brendan — it was a bit desperate, to be fair.
Race Two: Getting It Done
Race two was a lot more straightforward. I focused on getting a clean start, got off the line well, and just put my head down for six laps. Everything clicked, and I managed to take a comfortable win.
Looking back, it’s a weekend that probably shouldn’t have happened at all.
Without Mark’s push, I likely would’ve stayed home, mowed the lawns and sulked. Instead, we turned it around with a last-minute engine swap, went racing against a seriously strong field, and came away with wins — and my fastest-ever lap on the bike.
Not bad for a “spare” engine.
What’s Next?
I haven’t decided whether I’ll do any more rounds this year — it’ll come down to how the funds stack up. I’ve been saving hard to pay for a new shed at home, so racing might have to take a back seat for a bit.
In the meantime, stay safe — and I’ll see you at the track, or maybe at a ProRider training day.
Pav
