US offer lifts Dibben's spirits

SHELTERED: Whanganui racer Richie Dibben and mechanic brother Mike (both former WHS students) receive shelter from the searing heat in the Philippines as the countdown starts to race time.

The pain of crashing out of round three of the FIM Asia Supermoto Championship in the Philippines at the weekend has been eased for Whanganui's Richie Dibben with an invitation to ride in the USA.

Dibben was second on the leaderboard after two rounds and qualified second on the grid for last weekend's third round in Pampanga in the Philippines when disaster struck.

"I had a bit of a slip in the warm-up lap and my gear lever was pushed through it's casing," Dibben said from home yesterday.

Fresh from winning round 2 at Malang in Indonesia in October, Dibben was realistically hopeful of at least a podium finish in Pampanga to keep his hopes of a championship victory alive with the final leg of the series in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 17-18.

"We tried to jimmy something up with the gear lever and casing, but it was never going to work so that was the end of round 3 for us - I was absolutely gutted, but it is what it is," Dibben said.

Dibben and team that includes father Chris and brother and race mechanic Mike are now pretty much committed to round 4 in Kuala Lumpur after already booking and paying for airfares.

However, the first order of business will be focusing on the first two rounds of the Suzuki Series here in New Zealand. Round one kicks off at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo on Sunday, December 4 with the second round at Manfield Park, Feilding, Sunday December 11. The series ends on Boxing Day on the Cemetery Circuit in Whanganui.

"I'm out of winning contention in the Asia championship now so I would normally not have bothered with the final round in Kuala Lumpur, but we've already booked and paid for the airfares."

Dibben is a two-time winner of the Motard class at the Suzuki Series at home and will again have a serious crack at the title.

Meanwhile, through American rider Steve Alkyer who Dibben met in Malang last month, an invitation to ride in the United States for money has emerged.

"Steve said he has a bike very similar to my Honda 450 that I can borrow. The trip is in April and there will be two races - one a big money race followed by an American championship race that's part of a series. All I need to do is bring a few parts with me so I can set his bike up as closely as possible to mine at home," Dibben said.

By Iain Hyndman
Wanganui Chronicle 24/11/16