Motourage

Andrew Stroud won his third successive New Zealand Suzuki International Tri-Series at Wanganui on December 26. The Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted Stroud didn’t have it all his own way on the famous Cemetery Circuit however as rivals pushed the Hamiltonian in each of the premier F1 Superbike races.
To win the title, Stroud only needed to finish ahead of street circuit rookie – but main rival – Robbie Bugden. Instead, the 42-year-old father of eight went straight to the front in the opening F1 Superbike race to make a statement of intention. Within a few laps however Kawasaki mounted Nick Cole stormed into the lead, which he held for several laps until Stroud made his winning move and went on to take the checkered flag.

An average start left Craig Shirriffs (Suzuki GSX-R1000) to claw his way up to and then past Australian Dan Stauffer, on a Yamaha, to cross the line third and fourth respectively ahead of BMW’s Sloan Frost. Bugden, a three-time NZ Superbike champion, had a slow start but worked his way up to sixth by race end, leaving Stroud with a more comfortable 14-point buffer before the final race.

The second restart of the final leg proved disastrous for Bugden, who was taken out – along with Nick Cole – by another rider at turn one. Bugden suffered a broken right leg (tibia and fibula) which saw an end to his title aspirations, although Cole made the delayed re-start. With the race underway Stroud lead for the first two corners when a brilliant Stauffer took control of the race to win his debut street race, finishing ahead of Stroud and a charging Shirriffs, with Frost and Cole further back.

Stroud’s second place secured his third successive Suzuki Tri-Series title for Suzuki. Consistent riding from Frost earned second place for BMW, with an injured Bugden third, also for Suzuki.

“It’s good to be winning, and the whole family appreciates it as well, cheering me on – they’re my biggest fans,” said Stroud. “In the first race Nick (Cole) had the pressure on the whole time, and the in the second race Dan Stauffer got in front of me early on and pulled a gap straight away. I was pushing reasonably had trying to catch him but it wasn’t happening, so that was it.”

The Robert Holden Memorial feature race was a thriller between Stroud and Stauffer, with the Australian retaking the lead on the last corner to become the first ever Australian to win the prestigious Robert Holden Memorial trophy.

In the F2 600 category Glen Skachill and his Suzuki GSX-R600 remained unbeaten in all six Suzuki Tri-Series races to win that title, ahead of Dennis Charlett and Karl Morgan.

The massive Wanganui crowd weren’t disappointed with Davide ‘Speedy’ Gozzini’s two 450 Supermoto wins. Gozzini was pushed hard by fellow Italian Andrea Occhini and Kiwi Jayden Carrick in each race yet wrapped up his second championship in as many years. Toby Summers was second in the series with Carrick third.

The Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen pairing scored two good wins aboard their Suzuki LCR1000 sidecar, ahead of the Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe and Darryl/Scott Dowman combinations. Bron and Simonsen’s victories were enough to win the series title from last year’s winners Unsworth and Dawe. Des James/Jonathan Shaw were third.
Read more…

Andrew Stroud (Suzuki) leads Craig Shirriffs (Honda) at the front of Sunday's Superbike race.

Hamilton’s Andrew Stroud is possibly less than two races away from reclaiming the New Zealand superbike crown he last held four seasons ago. The Brother Suzuki rider raced to two commanding wins in the class at the weekend’s fourth round of five in this year’s Castrol Power 1 New Zealand Superbike Championships at Feilding’s Manfeild race circuit. Stroud’s double race victory in the Manawatu on Sunday means the 42-year-old has stretched his lead to 43 points over the defending champion, Brisbane Suzuki rider Robbie Bugden, with just 50 points still available, at the fifth and final round at Hampton Downs, near Meremere, in March. Stroud’s massive points advantage came about thanks to two key factors – his own fantastic talent on a motorcycle and the incredible bad luck that struck main rival Bugden when his bike mysteriously ran out of power nine laps into the 14-lapper and he was forced to withdraw.

“Winning was what I had in mind coming here and that’s also what I plan to do at Hampton Downs. I can afford to settle for seconds and thirds now but I wouldn’t be a real racer if I was happy to do that,” said Stroud.

Second best superbike class rider on Sunday was home-town favorite Craig Shirriffs (Honda), while his team-mate, New Plymouth’s Hayden Fitzgerald was third overall. With Shirriffs finishing 3-2 at Manfeild, he has moved to third in the championship standings, with Christchurch Suzuki rider James Smith slipping to fourth and Fitzgerald remaining in fifth spot. It was bad luck all around for Smith as he also lost his grip on the lead of the other class he is contesting, the 600cc sports production class. Hamilton’s Nick Cole (Kawasaki) was one of the beneficiaries after Smith and Wellington’s Glen Skachill were each penalized 20 seconds after allegedly jumping the start of race one. That decision by track officials elevated Cole from fifth to third in race one. Cole backed that up by placing fourth in race two, that battle abbreviated to just three laps following a serious crash. So, finishing 3-4 on the day was enough for Cole to zoom into the championship lead, now 6.5 points clear of Smith.

“This was a better weekend for me that I had expected,” said Cole. “Manfeild is not one of my favorite tracks.”

The day’s outright winner in the class was Inglewood’s Midge Smart (Yamaha), making his first appearance in the championship and stunning with his 1-2 results.

The battle for formula three honors continued between Manawatu friends and rivals Glen Williams (Suzuki) and Jason Easton (Tigcraft Aprilia), with defending champion Williams edging further ahead in the championship chase thanks to his 1-2-1 results.

Easton had to settle for 2-1-2 at Manfeild and was disappointed to learn he is now 16 points behind Williams with just the final round to come.

Dannevirke’s Geoff Booth (Suzuki) was untouchable in the 650 Pro Twins class, winning all three races in the class at Manfeild. He is now 36 points ahead of Christchurch’s James Hoogenboezem (Suzuki).

Meanwhile, Hoogenboezem’s bother, Alastair (Honda), overcame problems racing without a foot peg when it fell off on his warm-up lap before race one in the 125GP class on Saturday, still managing third place and then bouncing back to win both his races the following day. He is now a massive 90 points in front of Auckland teenager Avalon Biddle (Honda).

In the sidecars class, Wanganui men Stephen Bron and Dennis Simonsen (Suzuki) finished 2-1-1 at the weekend, further boosting their lead in the championship.

Leading standings after round four of the Castrol Power 1 New Zealand Superbike Championships at Manfeild on Sunday:

Superbikes:
Andrew Stroud (Hamilton, Suzuki) 178 points;
Robbie Bugden (Australia, Suzuki) 135;
Craig Shirriffs (Feilding, Honda) 113.

600cc Sports Production:
Nick Cole (Hamilton, Kawasaki) 146.5 points;
James Smith (Christchurch, Suzuki) 140;
John Ross (Christchurch, Yamaha) 106.

125GP:
Alastair Hoogenboezem (Christchurch, Honda) 266 points;
Avalon Biddle (Auckland, Honda) 176;
Jaden Hassan (Auckland, Yamaha) 172.

Formula Three:
Glen Williams (Palmerston North, Suzuki) 264 points;
Jason Easton (Palmerston North, Aprilia) 248;
Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Suzuki) 185.

650 Pro Twins:
Geoff Booth (Dannevirke, Suzuki) 260 points;
James Hoogenboezem (Christchurch, Suzuki) 224;
Jason Cameron (Kaiapoi, Suzuki) 188.

Sidecars:
Stephen Bron and Dennis Simonsen (Wanganui, Masterton) 220 points;
Dave Annan and Warwicks Demmocks (West Melton, Rangiora) 164;
Peter Goodwin and Pion Weedon (Bay of Islands, Papakura) 136