Fairbrother helps Kiwis to victory

Motorcycle racer Doug Fairbrother has returned victorious to Greytown after helping win the Transtasman Challenge teams event at the Barry Sheene Memorial Festival of Speed in Sydney at the weekend.

Fairbrother raced in the Period 6 (1983 to 1990) 788cc to 1100cc class aboard his Ducati 888 and came away fifth overall at the meet, which ran at the Sydney Motorsport Park.

The memorial event comprised a series of sprint races representing motorcycles from 1919 to 1990 and other races included an F1 sidecar championship, parade laps and a comprehensive display of the 40th anniversary of the Yamaha TZ, which had changed the face of motorcycle racing in the 1970s.

Alongside his nine Kiwi racemates at the memorial, Fairbrother also captured the Transtasman Challenge teams event, which will next be contested at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in Auckland during Labour Weekend.

The teams challenge matches Australian riders with their visiting counterparts aboard the same bikes in the same races.

Fairbrother said he had been paired against Australian Stephen Leedbruggen and three times took first place against his rival from four outings.

The Kiwi team chalked up 204 points over the course of the challenge against an Australian total of 187 points and Victorian racer Michael Dibb took the Barry Sheene Memorial.

Fairbrother, who had last year finished third overall at the annual meet, said he had this year clocked some of his best lap times at the memorial in the decade since racing ace Sheene had died.

"It was some of the best lap times I've ever done and there were no problems with the bike. It was well worth the trip."

Fairbrother will next race this weekend at the annual Gladstone Cliffhanger, of which he is a co-founder, during a lead-up to his fifth bid, aboard a 1971 BSA Rocket 3, at the Isle of Man.

As part of his build-up to the Manx Grand Prix in August, Fairbrother has already raced since early February at the 2013 Sound of Thunder meet at the Powerbuilt Raceway in Christchurch, the Paeroa Battle of the Streets and at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park near Hamilton.