Willy Ponting
Won the1985 New Zealand Nationals at 10.10 sec and 130 mph or 209.21 kph
Willy Ponting ran two Drag bikes firstly in 1982 a Kawasaki Dragbike which would now run under A/DB and a RG500 Suzuki under C/PRO on this bike he set and held the National Record for several years.
In 1982 under the guidance
of the late Ron Phillips was the first time I rode the Kawasaki Dragbike. After
two meetings the engine expired. This only made me more determined to make the
bike go faster. Over the next three years with the help of friend Tony Astell
several modifications were made to the bike including the use of two 45mm Weber
carburettors jetted for Methanol and Nitro.
In 1985 I won the New Zealand Nationals with wire and a piece of wood holding the clutch together after it exploded at the end of a previous round.
The bike was extremely stable and safe at speed, a tribute to Ron Phillips engineering. Best time and speed 10.10 sec and 130 mph
| Frame | Ron Phillips eutectic welded mild steel. Weight 18Kg bare. |  |
| Front End | 1972 Yamaha 650. | |
| Rear End | Spun alloy with 6 inch M&H slick. | |
| Motor | Kawasaki 1135 cc with 1mm oversize inlet valves. | |
| Cams | RC400 from Russ Collins Racing in the US. | |
| Carbs/Fuel | 2x DCOE 45 Webers on Methanol & sometimes Nitro. |
| Thanks to:-(Crew) Warwick Mudgeway, Jeff Marshall of Marshall Automotive & Jock of Stablecraft Boats |
In 1987 Jeff Marshall (Marshall Automotive) put together an RG500 Suzuki for the strip and asked me to ride it. The bike was a 498cc water cooled 4 cylinder 2 stroke. I found it hard to ride, very snappy and prone to doing whatever it wanted without warning.
Jeff
Marshall continually modified the engine to produce more power as and when I
could handle it. The gearbox proved to be the weak link in this machine,
stripping 3rd gear with alarming regularity.
Unofficially this bike ran 10.8 sec at 129 mph totally out of shape in the breaking area. It gave all of us a lot of concern for a while. But we seemed to tame the bike in the end.
This bike held the New Zealand National Record for a 500cc bike for 12 years and was a credit to Jeff Marshall in terms of performance and appearance. The bike broke its own National record at every meeting it attended in 1986 and 1987.