Humble Munro repays his faithful with gutsy success

Three weeks ago, likeable Christchurch motorcyclist Lee Munro thought his Burt Munro Challenge dreams had gone up in smoke.

Munro, whose grandfather was Burt Munro's cousin, is a regular attendee of the motorcycling festival, but was resigned to the fact he would not be racing after the engine on his Ducati 999S bike recently blew up.

With little time to pull together funds and find a new engine, Munro had all but given up hope of competing – only for his loyal sponsors and supporters to rally together and help him out and find the necessary $8000 to get his bike to the start line.

Munro also found the unlikely support of an Australian, Perth engineer Brook Henry, who provided him with a cheap deal on a bottom-end engine and shipped it over in just three days.

"Two and a half weeks ago, I had no engine. I was stressing. I was really, really lucky. So many people have helped me out with money and everything to get me a new bottom end. [Competing in the Burt Munro Challenge] means everything to me. It's the best meeting for me."

Munro repaid their faith by delivering some top-notch racing over the weekend. He put on a show for the large crowd at the Wyndham Street, winning the BEARS class and finished second in the open class at both Wyndham and in the Teretonga Sprints behind New Zealand Superbike rider Ryan Hampton.

Munro said it was always going to be a mission to stick with the classy Hampton and was rapt with how he had performed.

"I'm happy to have stayed a bit closer to him than I did last year ... I've got no qualms about being beaten by him, he's an awesome rider and a great guy too. I don't mind being beaten by someone like him."

Munro said he never got to meet his famous relative, but heard plenty of tales about him growing up and recalls going to his granddad's farm as a youngster and trying to follow in Burt's footsteps.

"Whenever I went to my granddad's, all I wanted to do was go to the bike shed and jump on the bike and go hard. I was given a paddock and every time I left, there was a big track."

Now in its sixth year, the Burt Munro Challenge continues to grow in prestige with riders coming from all over New Zealand and even Australia for the annual event.

Munro said the challenge was a fantastic showpiece for motorcycling in New Zealand and believed Burt would have been humbled by how popular the event had become since its inception. "I think he'd be really, really proud. Proud as tears," Munro said.

"I get a wee bit passionate when I think about. How would you feel to have a meeting named after you?"

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Brad Munro   #1   10:04 am Nov 28 2011

Well done brother. Good to see you representing the family name again, next step getting sponsership for the superbike series.

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