I've just returned from the yearly ritual of the Wanganui Boxing day races. I've tried to count how many times I have been, but always get lost North of 40. I went as an 8 year old, then started going every year as an 18 year old on. Missed a few due to being overseas, and then missed a couple due to family reasons. I'm pretty fucking old now so its still a lot. I've witnessed internationals trying to get their heads around this tiny little circuit, and so many talented locals eager to test themselves against some of the best the world had to offer. I've watched in awe as 'Scotty' smashed the lap record on a Honda, Jason McEwan on the Britten just killing everyone and then on my Kawasaki. I've had the distinct pleasure of watching Robert Holden who I later sponsored and Bob Toomey battle it out on GSXR1100's ( Pro Helmets and WMC leathers made by Dusty). Roaring TZ750.s, RG500's, Fields with 30 TZ250's screaming down the small straight to the railway lines Purpose built race bikes direct from the factory. The mythical wire wheel black pipe Katanas, ( where were they made?) the Wellington Motorcycle bikes, I've been lucky enough to see it all. Hence the reason I went every year, the racing, the bikes, the people were epic. And of course who could forget Barbara Lett the famous track Controller, the language, the sliding Commodore racing to the limit around the circuit funnily enough making it safe for everyone. I even raced there a few times myself, which when I say race I was on the same track at the same time as those racing. I think I podiumed in a mid winter race they held and got a $20.00 prize cheque that I did not bank. The drunken nights at the Avenue Hotel, it was all something that we looked forward to every year.

The Wanganui Boxing Day Races are more than a sporting event; they are a ritual, a collision of speed, tradition, and raw human nerve that transforms the quiet streets of Whanganui into a living, breathing spectacle. Once a year, the town sheds its calm exterior and becomes a temporary cathedral of motorsport, where the scent of fuel hangs in the summer air and anticipation hums as loudly as the engines themselves.

The thrill is immediate and undeniable. Bikes scream down public roads that, for most of the year, are lined with parked cars and footpaths. The riders, balanced between bravery and recklessness, skim past concrete walls and hay bales at impossible speeds. Each lap feels like a defiance of logic and gravity, and spectators are drawn into the danger, hearts pounding as machines blur past only meters away. It is racing stripped of excess—no wide runoff areas, no forgiving margins—just rider, bike, and road.

Yet beyond the adrenaline lies the mystic. The Boxing Day races carry decades of stories, whispered legends of heroic wins and tragic losses, of local riders chasing glory and international names testing themselves on a course that demands respect. The circuit itself seems to remember, each corner holding echoes of past triumphs and near misses. There is a sense that you are not just watching a race, but standing inside a long, ongoing narrative.

Families return year after year, passing the tradition down like folklore. Old timers speak of races long gone, while newcomers feel the weight of history without fully understanding it. In this way, the Wanganui Boxing Day Races exist somewhere between festival and myth—a fleeting moment where danger, celebration, and memory fuse, leaving behind stories that linger long after the last engine falls silent.

One of the nicest roads I've ever had the pleasure of riding down.

Still one of the most iconic colour schemes, that has made Aaron Slight instantly recognisable around the world. Money well spent Castrol.

God they were Epic.

My first ever :proper: trail bike. I loved it

In a quiet bar..............

Not the prettiest Ducati it had to be said, but I liked them, and they were the winningest Ducati have

A lot of things happened in this shop, to this day I am still amazed at how they fitted it all in. It was a rabbits warren that's for sure. And to this day I still see shades of this in this guys garage. Walking sideways becomes the norm







Robert coming across the bridge at Wanganui. He was a master around this circuit



Well folks thats about it for 2025. I know it's 2026 but you get the drift. Looking forward to next year ( this year), lets see what my treatments bring me and what ever else that is going to happen. Thanks for your support and words of encouragement, thanks for being you. See you out there.