02/06/2026
This one pulls on the Dad heart strings a lot. And is a shamless plug for one young boy who deserves these words.
Marc Chappell Racing aka Marcsharc aka "the Feather in leathers" has been building to become a Honest Real Champion for years.
I have seen Marc do things that junior riders should not be able to do. I have had top international riding coaches throw their eyes over Marc’s riding - I would say "I’m not being biased right, Marc can really ride".
Sadly due to crashes and injuries he has had a really tough summer. Broken collar bones and brake line failures can give riders that hesitation not needed to push all the way when the stakes are high.
Marc’s first time back racing post a broken collar bone was this series, straight to big track - and straight onto chasing The Forest Racing Kane the NZ 160cc Junior Champion!
Marc’s progress along with all the riders during the series was stunning. Round 1 they started circulating at 1:42s - I predicted they might crack 1:36s by the end of the series, that would be fast with 10inch wheels and 13HP.
Come to round 2 and Marc Qualified at a 1:39...on wets. Kane dropped to 1:36s and Marc chased, doing the same. Seems I underestimated these 10 year olds!
Kane would gap him into and out of the sweeper and T1. Marc would fight his way back to Kane’s tail by the exit of Higgins and they would repeat this every race. The last race of the Round 2 Kane tagged onto 3 fighting R15s and grabbed a stella time of 1:34 - Unbelievable. My heart sank a tad thinking "how are we going to find a 34!"
Round 3 - the final, Marc needed to beat Kane 3 out of the 5 races to take the championship. We needed 34s in our bag of laps. Prior to round 3 a fresh engine got swapped into Marc’s machine. His original 160cc had a compression test and the result was quite a bit lower than the new 160cc machines. Perhaps he was down on HP at rounds 1 & 2, he weighs so little the straight line performance wasn't hugely different, Kane’s machine had a touch more pull up top at Round 2.....but he and his machine are heavier....Kanes motor was new at Round 1 so it was decided Marc deserves the same.
Bike is back to fast, let’s get the rider sharpened, I found a day where Marc and I could do one on one rider coaching at Manfeild. It was a day of work - we planned what we were going to work on, braking markers and entry confidence into T1 and the Sweeper. His lefts were and have always been strong.
After lunch he clocked a 1:34 easily, without a tow - all by himself. Then a high 1:33...I pulled him in - feedback "those new braking markers you are using mate are working!" New markers helped but being more SOLID on the bike BEFORE Braking = Massive gains. I became emotional in my helmet more than once riding with him - watching him pull away into corners, then outdrive me as I rode a Ninja 300 behind him.......
One more session, he went straight to 33s, and did a 1:33.0 ( I could see his lap timer as I rode beside him ). He even pushed for a 32 (he said) and stepped the rear in splash (caught on camera) so rolled out of it and came in....Very MotoGP esk....
Job done - speed found.
The rest you could say is history. He qualified on a very cold track with a reserved 1:34 - Kane did a 1:37. The first race Marc’s start was Jump ESK ...... most of the field bobbled during the long light. 2 x R15s had to start from pit lane, Marc won the race outright - lapped a 1:33.2 and beat the R15s by 12 seconds, the next MiniGP bike home was 17 seconds later..... Race 2 was a Ding d**g between R15 Sam Chave and Marc - he pulled a 1:33.0 chasing Sam.
Race 3 the sun was almost out - track temp was up a bit, and I think Sam had had enough of a MiniGP bike buzzing around. Sam hammered down and did a 1:31.9 - Marc wasn't finished though - last lap draft to the line. Marc placed second behind Sam by .006 of a second........AI can work out the distance that is at 130KPH.... but Marc did a 1:31.749 - an Unofficial MiniGP lap record and only 0.9seconds off Billy Ms actual R15 record set at Round 2.
Kane tagged on to the guys going for it and made it into the 33s - great work there Kane!
Sam came over prior to the last race to say he didn’t want to fight with Marc as he was struggling to actually see him during the battles - that was hugely mature of you mate. They aren't in the same class - so the risks were not worth the reward. Marc rounded out the day with one more MiniGP win - and Sam brought home the chequered flag with Marc and Kane in tow.
Marc took out the series, with Round 3 being a clean sweep and PB which is the MiniGP unofficial record. Victoria Motorcycle Club Inc awarded Marc with the Rookie of the year. Double heart string puller for old dad.
Footage and photo montages will be made - but for now, a huge thanks to all the people that have helped Marc over the years. The list is longer than you expect - I won’t try and name them all. Just know you all helped Marc achieve his greatness - he took on the best and proudly did his best.
Well done Marc - your hard work, drive and determination shone bright this time. Savour this one!
Super proud of you - Love you buddy
