Sizzling Suzuki Series set for Manfeild

Tony Rees leads son Mitch Rees and Sloan Frost during the first round of the Suzuki Series. Photo / Terry Stevenson

The second round of the 2017 Suzuki Series will be staged at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon tomorrow,and if the action during round one at Taupo is anything to go by, do not miss it.

The large Taupo crowd saw Scott Moir take two heroic wins on two different Suzuki GSXR1000s, they witnessed the Gixxer 150 Cup pushing, shoving, and crashes, and they took in the huge sidecar field with the David and Goliath battles between Barry Smith on his 1000cc F1 rig and multi-world sidecar champion Tim Reeves on a smaller F2 600 chair.

Moir is fast around Manfeild but so is Sloan Frost who will want to improve on his current third-place in the standings.

Moir, who leads the series, said: "I haven't had the best time at Manfeild but with the practice I have done on the new bike I'm on good pace, so I should be close to the front."

Frost said: "There's a couple of changes I need to make on the bike which will give me more confidence, and we need to make good days of our testing and consolidate what we've got."

Tarbon Walker is a lucky guy. Awesome photos from BikesportNZ.com

Posted by Suzuki NZ Gixxer Cup on Monday, 11 December 2017

Defending Suzuki Series winner and 2017 NZ Superbike champion Tony Rees will be out to prove a point after a battery went flat on his bike last Sunday.

Add to the mix Mitch Rees, who stunned most of the big-bore riders by taking two second placings on his Honda Rider Insurance CBR1000RR plus and the 24-year-old almost won the second race if not for a small mistake.

Mitch was keen to pick up more points at Manfeild but had few expectations.

"I've only been there four times, it's going to be like last weekend where I didn't expect to be on the podium and I didn't expect to be doing the lap times I was doing. We're on a new bike and we are still getting used to it, I am comfortable and happy, so we'll see if we can do the same next weekend," he said.

Northern Ireland professional rider Lee Johnston arrives for his first stint racing in New Zealand, riding a Suzuki NZ GSXR1000. The 28-year-old has an enviable track record - he has won the North West 200, finished on the Isle of Man TT podium three times and is a former British Superstock 600 champion.

Jesse Stroud won both Gixxer 150 Cup races in Taupo. Photo / Terry Stevenson

He will have a lot of catching up to do in learning a new circuit as he prepares for a tilt at the Robert Holden Memorial at Whanganui on Boxing Day. It has just been announced that Johnston will be riding the 2018 season for the Honda Racing roads team, alongside Ian Hutchinson.

Barry Smith and Tracey Bryan lead the Suzuki Series Sidecar class on their more powerful Carl Cox Motorsport LCR F1 sidecar and must be favourites at Manfeild.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes will have their faster Honda 600 power plant fitted in time for Manfeild after using a stock engine last Sunday, but will it be enough to challenge for the win on their lower powered Carl Cox Motorsport LCR F2 outfit?

Despite their lack of speed down the straights the Gixxer 150 Cup races provided most of the entertainment as the 14-21 year old riders battled it out on the track with no-holds barred antics.

The diminutive Jesse Stroud, 15, secured both wins at Taupo last Sunday and has raced at Manfeild before. Tarbon Walker kept the Hamilton rider honest and will likely be alongside Stroud on any given corner - or all of them. But there is plenty of scope for other riders on the identical Gixxer 150 bikes to show their mettle at Manfeild on Sunday.