Excitement builds for start of Suzuki Series
Taupo’s Scotty Moir would love nothing better than to win this year’s Suzuki Series — and he won’t have long to wait before he’ll find out if it’s possible. The annual Suzuki Tri Series kicks off the New Zealand road-race season this weekend at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, just a few kilometres away from his home town.
Moir has come close to winning this series, but he’s never made it to the top step of the podium. His form hints this might be about to change.
Moir was one of the winning trio at the Motul Six-Hour endurance race at Hampton Downs last month and it will possibly be his teammates from that day — Sloan Frost and Daniel Mettam — who will be among his greatest threats at Taupo on Sunday.
Tony Rees won the Suzuki Series last year and he’ll no doubt be among Moir’s chief rivals this time.
They will all want to make a good impression to set themselves up for the rest of the Suzuki Series, and for the four-round nationals in January and March.
After Taupo, the Suzuki Series takes the riders to Manfeild, on the outskirts of Feilding, for round two on December 17, before its Boxing Day finale on Wanganui’s public street Cemetery Circuit.
The series this year has the newly created Gixxer Cup class added to the race programme. The class is reserved for the 150cc Suzuki GSX150F model bikes, although the small size belies their huge potential to impress.
At least 20 riders will be on the starting grid in the Gixxer Cup class, with Jesse Stroud the latest to sign up.
The Stroud name is synonymous with motorcycle road racing in New Zealand Jesse’s father, Andrew, is a record nine-time former national superbike champion. The Stroud legacy is being carried by a new generation that includes Jesse and his elder brother, Jacob.
The Suzuki Series should attract a lot of interest in the Gixxer Cup, where young riders will go into battle on identical GSX150F machines.
With the fledgling racers on matching bikes, racing is certain to be intense, a level playing field being an ideal environment for tomorrow’s stars to learn their craft.
Gixxer Cup riders have already been out at track days and training sessions around the country, gaining valuable bike time and experience. Several top Kiwi riders, including Brian Bernard, Gary Stirling and Jared Love, have offered their advice and coaching to the young Gixxer riders.
There are still several GSX150F bikes that have not yet been allocated to riders, each of them fully prepared and ready to go, so there is still a good opportunity for potential competitors to come on board and enter the competition.
Reserved for riders aged between 14 and 21, the Gixxer Cup — with the tagline “growing future champions“— is a production racing class that will provide a springboard towards a successful racing future at higher levels.
While the Gixxer Cup grade of competition will also be a feature of the four-round 2018 New Zealand Superbike Championships, beginning at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch, on January 6-7, with rounds to follow at Timaru, Hampton Downs and Taupo.
Meanwhile, Wellington’s Victoria Motorcycle Club is evaluating a winter series class for the Gixxers, to provide a further opportunity for these riders to keep their competitive spirits alive during what is usually the “off season” for New Zealand road racing.