SIDECAR-racing brothers Michael (Bert) and Tim Wolland will be flying the flag for Wairarapa at the traditional cemetary circuit race meeting at Wanganui on Boxing Day.
And if they manage to finish even midfield they'll rate the weekend a great success.
The pair are developing a new sidecar they built over the
winter.
This will be just its third outing.
The first was at Pukekohe, the bike still in its undercoat colours after a frantic effort to finish it.
On the last lap of the second race a wheel parted company with the rig, flying 15ft into the air and hitting a marshall's car.
It was a shocking reminder of Tim's previous trip to Auckland two years ago when the sidecar collapsed at the startline, jamming his hand between tarmac and steel and doing terrible d mage to his hand.
On this trip the only injuries he sustained were crushed toes in the pits when Bert lifted the front of the rig and Tim didn't get out of the way quickly enough..
In Auckland, the Wollands got a glimpse of the sort of opposition they are up against this year, in the form of Australian Stacey Sellar driving a near-new European LCR.
"We were doing 220km/h down the back straight and he went past us like we were standing still," said Bert. "He was doing around 260km/h."
The LCR - "sex on wheels", according to the brothers - is a $150,000 state-of-the-art machine.
The home-built Masterton rig is loosely based on an LCR and runs a fuel-injected Honda Blackbird putting out 165 - 170hp.
Top speed is 230km/h-plus.
For the Manfeild round, the Wollands were still painting the bike at 11pm the night before the meeting.
Tenth overall and some good track time made that a worthwhile outing.
Aided by a pair of former top competitors in Spike Taylor and Keith Wyatt they are steadily developing the bike and have pulled their times down by three seconds a lap at each meeting. They now reckon they're ready for a busy season - Wanganui on Boxing Day, Taupo two days later, a couple of rounds in the South Island and then back to Paeroa.
Wanganui will be tough, with Stacey plus four other top Aussies heading the field.
But just being there will be enough for the brothers.
Bert has missed only two meetings in 22 years, and he plans to enjoy this one to the full.
