Round 3 Report from Castrol Power 1 Superbike Road Race Championships 2010
by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Lap records fell in every class at Round 3 of the 2010 Castrol Power1 Superbike Championships at Levels Raceway Timaru last Sunday. The racing was witnessed by a large crowd of spectators; the largest seem at a motorcycle meeting at the South Canterbury circuit in years. Lap records were set and then broken in every class throughout the weekend. Official lap records at Timaru are now as follows:

Superbike: Andrew Stroud, Suzuki, 1.03.598
600SP: Nick Cole, Kawasaki, 1.04.809
F3: Jason Easton, Aprilia, 1.08.501
650 Pro-twin: Geoff Booth, Suzuki, 1.09.771
125GP: Alastair Hoogenboezem, Honda, 1.08.396
Sidecars: Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen, Suzuki LCR, 1.11.512
Street Stock: Johnny Small, Suzuki, 1.17.891
Motard: Leighton Selfe, Honda, 1.12.606
Clubmans: Mark Taylor, Ducati, 1.10.781

James Smith Leads Nick Cole and John Ross during their titanic dual in the 600SP class at Timaru. Photo by Championship Digital.

Christchurch’s James Smith has double the reason to celebrate after the third round of five in this season’s New Zealand Superbike Championships on Sunday.

The 30-year-old printer is the only rider to tackle two classes this season and he’s surprising even himself by standing on the podium in both of them.

At round three of the series at Levels Raceway, near Timaru, on Sunday, the Suzuki star finished 2-1 in his two 600cc sports production class outings, sharing the day’s overall honors with Hamilton’s Nick Cole (Kawasaki) and maintaining his six-point advantage at the top of the standings.

Read more…