Suzuki Series has twists to come
It is extremely tight at the top in many of the bike categories after two rounds in this year’s Suzuki International Series, which means the racing will go down to the wire at the final round in Whanganui on Boxing Day.
Racing was frenetic at the weekend's second round at Manfeild, on the outskirts of Feilding, with upsets and surprises at every turn. This caused plenty of reshuffling in the series points.
The key now will be how the main players handle the entirely different scenario of street racing.
The third and final round of this popular annual series will once more send the riders tearing around the famous Cemetery Circuit, the traditional post-Christmas spectacular on Whanganui’s closed-off public streets on December 26 is sure once again to be a sensational crowd pleaser.
However, this year’s edition could be even more nerve-tingling than before, with virtually nothing to separate the top two protagonists in the premier Formula One Superbike class – visiting British champion Richard Cooper and Whakatane’s Damon Rees.
Rees is a former Boxing Day winner, having tasted glory in the 600cc Formula Two class at Whanganui last year, but he is yet to take to the twists and turns of the Cemetery Circuit on a fire-breathing 1000cc superbike.
Cooper, on the other hand, has impeccable credentials when it comes to street racing, having jumped onto the podium at the famous North West 200 event in Ireland earlier this year — although he has zero experience around Whanganui.
This surely sets things up for a thrilling Boxing Day showdown between these two.
“It was a perfect weekend for me even after I arrived at Manfeild a little bit late on Friday [for unofficial practice] and missed a couple of sessions,” said the 36-year-old Cooper.
“I had stayed in Taupo for the week but underestimated the time I'd need to drive across the country and get down to Manfeild,” laughed the man from Nottingham.
“We did a lot of work with the bike using old tyres on Friday and again used the same old tyres on Saturday morning and didn't put new tyres on the bike until qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
“I obviously benefited from the extra grip and took pole position, going under the lap record.
“I knew then that I had the bike underneath me to be able to fight for the win. Once I got that first race out of the way [with a win over Rees], I felt I was in control for the rest of the weekend.
“Damo (Rees) pushed me all the way and he's had a good go at me in a couple of areas, but the good thing is, I was able to respond better than I was able to at Taupo, where his track knowledge was way superior to mine.
“This track at Manfeild was a lot easier for me to learn.”
Cooper and Rees will be on fairly equal footing, however, on Boxing Day and that could produce some fireworks for the spectators.
There are a similar stories in several of the other bike classes, too, with just six points between Upper Hutt’s Rogan Chandler and Palmerston North’s Ashton Hughes at the top of the 600cc F2 class, while just one point separates Whanganui’s Ashley Payne and Dwayne Bishop at the top of the Formula Sport/Bears (senior) class.
There is only four points between the new leader in the Formula Sport/ Bears (junior) class in the North Shore-based expat Brazilian Gui Mendes, and his nearest challenger in Dunedin’s Michael Lee.
It’s also tight at the top of the Post Classic Pre-89 (senior) class, with just nine points between Napier’s Eddie Kattenberg and Hastings rider Gian Louie. In the Post Classic Pre-89 (junior) class, there is just one solitary point to separate Woodville’s Kieren O’Neill and Castor Bay's Scott Findlay at the top of the series standings.
For Whanganui rider Richie Dibben, it was a mixed bag at Manfeild.
He was clearly the fastest rider in the supermoto class – light-modified 450cc dirt bikes – extending his series lead from seven to 13 points over the new No 2 rider in the class in town mate, James Clarke.
Dibben was among the leading riders in the F2 class as well, although his F2 outings were beset by problems.
He was leading the first F2 race when it was stopped early after another rider had crashed.
Dibben maintained the lead in the re-start but, just three laps into the race, he was shunted off his bike by another rider as they exited a corner.
The Whanganui competitor's bike was sent sliding 270m down the track in a shower of sparks before it eventually came to a stop.
This resulted in a non-finish for Dibben and immediate disqualification from the series for the other rider.
Dibben finished third in the next F2 race and then won the final F2 race of the weekend, lifting him from eighth after Round 1 to now settle at fourth in the series standings, just four points off a podium position, something he'll look to achieve on his home track on Boxing Day.
The Gixxer Cup class should also deliver drama at Whanganui, with as many as a dozen riders bunched up and challenging for the win in all races at both rounds thus far.
Originally created in 2017 with the aim of providing a starting place and a pathway towards “growing future champions”, the Gixxer Cup has proven to be a runaway success and it is impossible to pick a winner here until the final races are run in Whanganui.
Currently it is Hamilton's Jesse Stroud, son of Suzuki's record ninetime former New Zealand superbike champion Andrew Stroud, who leads this class.
Andy McGechan / Suzuki Series
Whanganui Chronicle 17/12/19