Yamaha's Tidman Builds Solid Points Advantage

Yamaha's Tidman Builds Solid Points Advantage

JANUARY 9, 2017: At age 46, you might call Taumarunui's Leigh Tidman a late starter at national championships level, but he's more than making up for that right now.

The sheet metal worker made his first serious nationals appearance at the weekend's opening round of the New Zealand Superbike Championships in Christchurch a winning one, coming away from the event with a solid points lead in the closely-fought Superlites class.

Tidman qualified his hybrid Yamaha in only fourth position – although he was less than one second slower than pole-winner Nathan Jane (Yamaha) – and it was still enough to give him a front-row start on Christchurch's Mike Pero Motorsport Park circuit.

And that was all the invitation that Tidman needed.

A fast-starter, Tidman was soon in front of the first Superlites race, held on Saturday, stretching out his advantage to eventually win by just over a second from fellow Yamaha man Chris Defiori, of Te Kauwhata.

It was a repeat performance in race two the following day, with Tidman this time beating experienced Auckland rider Gavin Veltmeyer to the chequered flag, his winning margin a safe 1.7 seconds.

With his speed and race-craft no longer a big secret, Tidman had his work cut out in the third and final Superlites race of the weekend and he was forced to accept second place at the finish, crossing the line just 300th of a second behind Defiori.

Tidman leads the championship standings by nine points from Defiori, with Veltmeyer third, another 15 points further back, as the riders now head to Teretonga for round two this coming weekend.

Tidman is now oozing confidence that he and his bike – a 1995 Yamaha RS125 GP bike frame with a 2005 Yamaha WR450 dirt bike engine squeezed into it – will take some beating at Teretonga.

"It will be my first time at Teretonga, but it was my first time at Christchurch too and I managed to shave seconds off my lap times every time I went out onto the track," he said.

"The bike is going awesome, although I am chewing through the tyres at the moment.

"This is the first time I've done an entire national superbike championships," said the married father-of-three. "I raced karts for 17 or 18 years and won a few national and North Island titles, but I decided in 2009 to give motorcycles a go and I've been loving it.

"With only two South Island rounds for the nationals this year, it has made a full campaign more affordable for me."

As long as Tidman doesn't run out of tyres first, he could be on target to win his first national motorcycling title at his first attempt.

After the Teretonga round, the riders head north for round three at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo, on February 25-26, and the finale at Hampton Downs, near Meremere, on March 4-5.

Tidman is supported by Jilesen contractors, Bike Torque, Peter Tidman Ltd, Dave Allan car painters, Powerhouse gym.

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