'SUMMER OF SUZUKI'

KR File PicThe "Summer of Suzuki" continues to burn brightly after the third round of five in this season's New Zealand Superbike Championships near Timaru on Sunday.

Suzuki riders top the podium in six of the series' nine bike classes and, most significantly, lead the way in the four most prestigious categories -- superbikes, 600cc sports production, formula three and Pro Twins classes.

The superbikes battle continued to rage at round three of the series at Levels Raceway, near Timaru, on Sunday, with two Suzuki men -- Hamilton's national No.2 Andrew Stroud and Australia's defending champion  Robbie Bugden -- sharing the day's wins on their respective GSX-R1000 machines and again hogging the podium.

It was edge-of-the seat racing as there was absolutely nothing to separate the pair through both superbike races, Stroud winning the first one by just 0.09 tenths of a second from Budgen.

The Kiwi champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009, Brisbane's Budgen responded with a start-to finish win in the second race, crossing the line just three-tenths of a second ahead of Stroud after 15 furious laps.

It could easily have been a 1-1 result for the Kiwi but a final-lap challenge from Stroud didn't work out. Stroud did, however, smash the outright lap record in that race with a sizzling time of 1m 03.598s.

Stroud said he was disappointed with his result in race two.

"I was on the outside of him on the long left-hander and nearly went right around him.

"If I had the time again I would have tried to make it stick but he changed direction and I couldn't quite make it stick."

It remains a Suzuki 1-2-3 on the championship podium, too, with a first-timer in the class, Christchurch’s James Smith, finishing fourth and fifth in Sunday's two superbike races, enough to keep him third in the standings.

Even though it was Smith's worst result of the season thus far, he is not at all concerned.

"The superbike bid is really just a learning thing for me. Of course I am trying very hard to win the superbike title, but it's actually the 600cc class that I'm concentrating on.

"Winning the 600cc title is a box I want to tick before I move on to the superbikes class fulltime."

And Smith has irons burning brilliantly in that 600cc class firestorm as well.

The 29-year-old printer reckons he has double the chance to celebrate this season  -- he 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.

Smith finished 2-1 in his two 600cc sports production class outings on Sunday, sharing the day’s overall honours with Hamilton’s Nick Cole (Kawasaki) and maintaining his six-point advantage at the top of the standings.

"I feel I'm riding well but I simply ran out of energy in my second superbike race," said Smith. "I’ve had a bad tummy bug and I’ve not been able to eat.

"But at least I hung on to third in the superbike class," he said.

"I have been on the pace in the superbike class but just not able to keep it up for the whole day today.

"We have a bit of a break now, with round four at Manfeild next month, and I’ll just keep working away at my fitness between now and then."

Formula three defending champion Glen Williams (Suzuki SV650), of Palmerston North, has meanwhile stretched his lead at the top of his class, while Dannevirke's Geoff Booth (Suzuki SV650) remains top of the pro twins class.

In the sidecars class, Wanganui pair Stephen Bron and Dennis Simonsen appear to be running away with the championship, taking their Suzuki-powered rig to another hat-trick of wins at the weekend.

Source: Suzuki NZ

SUZUKI'S STROUD IS NO GENTLEMAN RACER

DECEMBER 9, 2009: He's an absolute gentleman to all who know him but, if Hamilton motorcycle ace Andrew Stroud has learned anything in the past few seasons, it's that he can't afford to be a gentleman on the racetrack.

"I simply can't afford to give an inch if I want to win the New Zealand Superbike Championships … it's as simple as that," said the softly-spoken 41-year-old father-of-seven.

A seven-time former national champion, Stroud (Suzuki GSX-R1000) has finished runner-up to fellow Suzuki star Robbie Bugden the past three seasons, but he believes now is the time to snatch back the No.1 plate from the Australian invader.

"I've got to treat every lap like it's the last one of the race … that's when I usually go best," he said. "I've just got to go hard from the start and maintain that speed throughout. There can be no slackening.

"I may be 41 -- and I turn 42 on New Year's Eve -- but I'm as fast now as at any time in my career. I just have the feeling that 2010 will be my season to win again. Robbie and the others had better watch out because I mean business."

And that's no hollow threat. Stroud has been in stunning form, in recent months, racing under the lap record at Manfeild as he tackled two rounds of the popular Victoria Motorcycle Club's Winter Series at the Manawatu race circuit.

"I’m going fractionally faster than last year, even faster at Manfeild that I was when I beat Robbie (Bugden) there last season … and I'm not even trying that hard yet," he laughed. "The new bike is just so good. It turns really well and is very confidence-inspiring."

Stroud is certainly likely to again be one of defending champion Budgen's biggest threats when the five-round nationals kick off at Christchurch's Ruapuna circuit on January 16-17.

Stroud will get his first crack at the top echelon of Kiwi and Australian superbike racers when he also races the 2009 Tri-Series, that frenetic two-weekend series set to open in just over a week, at Manfeild on December 19, with rounds to follow on the streets of Wanganui on Boxing Day and then at Taupo on December 28.

Stroud won the inaugural Pro Moto-sponsored Tri-Series last season, making him the favourite to repeat the dose this time around.

It is certainly going to be a busy couple of weeks for Stroud.

The Waikato ace will also line up his Suzuki in the Bikers Against Drunk Drivers (B.A.D.D.) three-hour endurance race being staged at the Taupo track on the intervening Sunday, December 27.

For that event he will team up with fellow Hamilton rider Sloan Frost and 53-year-old five-time former Australian superbike champion Robbie Phillis, the trio sharing the riding duties for the marathon race.

Wellington's Glen Skachill Auckland's Jason McCamish teamed up on a Suzuki GSX-R600 to win the inaugural three-hour event last year.

"I'm really pumped for this season," said Stroud. "I am feeling a lot fitter this season too. I have been in the gym and running and swimming, but also doing a bit of BMX racing too. I take my kids with me to race BMX on Wednesday nights. It's a great fitness experience workout and pretty good fun too.

"At some stages in the superbike racing last season I'd want to put my head down and go hard but I didn't really have the fitness to maintain that. It'll be a different story this season."

Source: Suzuki NZ. 

 
Andrew in Action at the Burt Munro Challenge. Our full BMC set is here.

SUZUKI SCORES ANOTHER HAT-TRICK

NOVEMBER 16, 2009: Everyone was again chasing Mount Maunganui's Cody Cooper at the weekend, this time at the fourth and final round of this year's New Zealand Motocross Championships in a rain-soaked Taranaki.

In all, Cooper won more races than any other rider in the glamour MX1 class -- taking the chequered flag in seven of the 12 races in the Demon Energy-sponsored series -- but it was still not enough and he fell short of the title by just two points.

Consistent riding from Christchurch's Justin McDonald was sufficient to see him take the crown instead.

Unfortunately for Cooper, his total dominance of the class at rounds three and four could not undo the damage caused by the injury-plagued early phase of his campaign.

The MotoGB-supported rider had to cope with serious hand and face injuries at round one in Timaru and round two in Rotorua respectively and he even found himself on the receiving end of a rock in New Plymouth on Sunday.

"I could barely see out of my right eye in that last race," said Cooper.

"I got a rock in the face from the rear wheel of a lapped rider and everything was blurry," he explained.

But, despite that handicap, Cooper was in stellar form at the weekend.

The Suzuki star romped to yet another hat-trick of convincing wins in the glamour MX1 class, taking his fuel-injected RM-Z450 to the front early in each race at the muddy Taranaki track, and then steadily building his advantage from there, each time finishing well ahead of McDonald.

"The bike was awesome," said Cooper afterwards. "I raced one of these in America in 2008 and absolutely loved it then too (when he finished fifth in the high-profile US national championships). The bike turns so well and has so much power, it's unbelievable.

"I proved I was the fastest guy out there this year but I had a little bit of bad luck."

Fellow Suzuki rider Brad Groombridge, of Taupo, moved up to third in the MX1 championship. Groombridge finished 3-5-3 in his three outings on Sunday, giving him a podium result in his first season in the big bike class.

In the MX2 class, the battle continued at Taranaki between Kiwi internationals Michael Phillips, of Rotorua, and Queenstown’s Scott Columb.

The pair had been level-pegging throughout the series but Phillips’ 5-1-2 results gave him the points he needed to take the title.

Suzuki's Columb, who had been racing the bigger RM-Z450 in Europe earlier this season, took a stock standard fuel-injected RM-Z250 to 8-2-1 results on Sunday, sealing the runner-up ranking for this season.

In the fight for under-21 honours in the 125cc class, Waitakere's Ethan Martens won the title ahead of Wanganui Suzuki star Tom Managh.

Managh (RM125) had been running third in the class but came on strong at New Plymouth to surge up the standings.

Managh finished 3-3-4 on Sunday to finish the championship 62 points behind Martens.

Source: Suzuki NZ

GROOMBRIDGE STEPS UP

Words & Pic: Suzuki

OCTOBER 26, 2009: With his team boss sidelined through injury, it was expected that Taupo’s Brad Groombridge would step up and fill the void.
And that’s exactly what the 19-year-old did on his home track in Taupo on Sunday.
Groombridge took his Suzuki RM-Z450 to three wins from three starts at the sand and pumice-based Digger McEwen Motorcycle Park facility in Taupo’s industrial area, winning both the MX1 class outright and also taking the main prize for the day at the annual Labour Weekend Extravaganza when he won the all-comers champion-of-champions Nicky Smith Memorial feature race as well.
He finished ahead of Hamilton’s two-time former world No.2 Darryll King in both the MX1 class battle and the feature race.
“It was a perfect day really,” said an ecstatic Groombridge afterwards.
“Darryll King really gave me a run for my money and I really felt the pressure from him, but I held on to win the feature race.
“I knew he was coming hard at me over those last few laps, so I had to find some extra pace too.
“To get my name on the Nicky Smith Memorial trophy is pretty special. There are not too many Taupo names on that.
“I was riding (injured team-mate) Daryl Hurley’s 2010 model bike and that made a huge difference. His 2010 model has so much more power than my regular 2009 bike. With Daryl sidelined, this is the bike I will have now for the rest of the season.
“I can’t wait now for the next round of the nationals (near Morrinsville in a fortnight, on November 8).”
Groombridge is currently fourth overall in the national series after two of four rounds.
Brad Groombridge and Team Suzuki are supported by Action Suzuki of Hawera, Elf lubricants, Fox apparel, Scott goggles, Bridgestone tyres, Renthal handlebars, Demon Energy, Asplundt, FMF, DID Acerbis and Eziup.
In the meantime, while Groombridge was winning the weekend's main prize, fellow Suzuki riders Dion Picard and Tom Managh was also enjoying success.
National junior champion Picard, from Atiamuri, lived up to his star billing by winning two of the day's three races and finishing runner-up in the third race, to claim top honours in the 12-14 years' 125cc class.
Wanganui's Managh had a particularly busy weekend, riding his Suzuki RM125 to runner-up spot in the 15-16 years' 125cc class, just behind Mangakino's Kayne Lamont and ahead of fellow Suzuki rider Joshua Jack (Auckland).
Ironman Managh also rode out on a Suzuki RM-Z250 to tackle the four-stroke class, finishing a close runner-up to Manawatu's Tom Hughes.
Managh also rode the following day, lining up against the seniors, and finished fourth in the senior 125cc class, an outstanding all-around effort from the talented teenager.

HURLEY LEADS SUZUKI 1-2-3 AT SAND PRIX

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009: It was a twist to the classic Eastwood cowboy movie "The Man With No Name", only this time it was "the bike with no number".

But if spectators at Sunday's inaugural Taikorea Sand Prix motocross event in the Manawatu were asking "who is that man?", they were not in the dark for long as Daryl Hurley soon showed that he was the man to beat.

The Suzuki star from Hawera arrived at the sandy motocross circuit with a plain-wrap version of the new 2010-model Suzuki RM-Z450LO.

Hurley said he brought the as-yet un-adorned bike to the Manawatu at the weekend to kick start his training for the upcoming motocross nationals and, true to his status as current national champion, did not disappoint.

The 33-year-old easily won both MX1 races and then also led from start to finish to win the feature race at the end of the day.

"I've only had this bike a week and I'm still getting it set up but I really wanted to race here today," said Hurley afterwards.

"It's always a good workout at this track. Sand is very demanding but the new bike was brilliant.

"It's the new model and has so much more horsepower than the 2009 model.

"There are a heap of changes to the new bike. It has new fuel injection, new head, new cams, new crankshaft … it just produces a lot more useable power and it revs a lot longer."

Hurley led a Suzuki 1-2-3 in the MX1 class on Sunday with Taupo's Brad Groombridge taking the runner-up spot and Marton's Cam Smith finishing third overall.

Success for the brand didn't end there either, with Wanganui's Tom Managh taking his Suzuki RM125 to back-to-back wins in the Junior 125cc class.

"It was a good day for me. I was not troubled at all," said the 16-year-old Wanganui High School fifth-former.