On his new bike and a borrowed one, Scotty Moir dominated the opening round of the Suzuki Series on his home Bruce McLaren Motorsports Park track on Sunday. Photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com.
On his new bike and a borrowed one, Scotty Moir dominated the opening round of the Suzuki Series on his home Bruce McLaren Motorsports Park track on Sunday. Photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com.
To say that Bay of Plenty's Scotty Moir won the opening round of the 2017 Suzuki Tri-Series would be telling only half the story.
The 33-year-old, a bike parts manager at Taupo's Pro Moto motorcycle shop, arrived at his local Bruce McLaren Motorsports Park with little inkling he would so comprehensively rule the premier Formula One class.
But that's exactly what he did – taking pole position after qualifying fastest among the elite of New Zealand's superbike stars, and then winning both F1 races on Sunday, emerging as the man to beat in the popular three-round pre-nationals competition.
The series will head to Manfeild this coming Sunday, before concluding at Whanganui's Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day.
In Taupo, Moir took a start-to-finish win in the first of two eight-lap F1 races, leaving the father and son Honda pair of Tony and Mitchell Rees to scrap among themselves for the runner-up position.
The 50-year-old defending Suzuki Series champion Tony Rees eventually claimed the No2 spot, finishing 2.1 seconds behind Moir, while son Mitchell settled for third, with Wellington's Sloan Frost (Suzuki) and Christchurch's Alastair Hoogenboezem (BMW) rounding out the top five.
This sent a loud a warning signal to Moir's rivals that on his new Suzuki GSX-R1000A he will be a potent force this summer.
The second F1 race later in the afternoon was a fractured affair, with a massive first turn pile-up claiming half the field – Moir and Tony Rees included.
After the carnage was cleared, a re-start was ordered as both Moir and Tony Rees had to line up on back-up machines – Rees with his No.2 bike and Moir grateful to be loaned the second bike of his Suzuki team-mate Frost.
Mitchell Rees led the way and Moir, even though he was on the borrowed Frost bike, was soon nipping at the young man's rear wheel.
These two cleared out from the rest of the field and Rees led until halfway through the dramatic final lap, when Moir was finally able to pounce and snatch the advantage, taking the win by a bike length from Rees, followed by Suzuki pair Daniel Mettam (Glen Eden) and Frost, with Yamaha's Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) rounding out the top five.
Moir's riding was flawless all weekend, but his performance in winning race two was particularly impressive, picking himself up from a scary crash and then throwing his leg over an unfamiliar bike and taking it to victory.
"I was just riding my own business when I was struck from behind and the next thing I knew I'd been flung through the air," Moir said.
"It took me a lap or so to get used to Sloan's spare bike, but I got faster and faster after that.
"The bike was stock standard but was actually so easy to ride. I was thinking I'd just go out and try to salvage as many points as I could.
"I didn't believe I could win on a borrowed bike. By the end of the race I was doing lap times as fast as the one I'd set to qualify fastest and this bike wasn't even set up for me."
Moir has 51 points, thanks to his wins and the bonus point for topping qualification, leading Mitchell Rees by nine points in the F1 standings, with Frost six points further back in third.
For the 24-year-old Rees, it was a rare opportunity to finish ahead of his multi-time superbike champion father Tony.
"I think the stint I had racing in Australia earlier this year helped a lot," Rees Jr said afterwards.
"I didn't crash or do anything stupid and I think that was the secret today.
"I qualified fourth fastest and I hadn't expected that either.
"Then I thought to myself, 'okay, sweet, maybe I can push for a top-five finish'. To come away with a third and a second was even better."
Mitchell Rees finished runnerup for the Formula 1 class in Taupo, seeing of the rest of a strong field including father Tony Rees.
Unfortunately for Tony Rees, the 2017 national superbike champion, the battery on his back-up bike went flat early after the restart following the crash.
He said the No2 bike had not been started or run in the previous three weeks, therefore the battery hadn't been charged up.
"It's a pity, for sure, but I'm pleased with the progress we've managed to make over the past few weeks and I'll carry on in the series and just fly the flag for Honda.
"What Mitchell achieved today was fantastic. I'm proud of him. Maybe I can retire now," he laughed.
"But, honestly, I'm not ready to give up yet. While I still have the pace to win, I'll carry on. I love racing."
The newly-created Gixxer Cup class, set aside for riders aged 14-21 on identical Suzuki GSX150F bikes, got off to a storming start.
Hamilton's Jesse Stroud – the 15-year-old son of nine-time former national superbike champion Andrew Stroud – scored back-to-back wins.
Stroud leads the class by 10 points from the "West Coast Warrior", 14-year-old Greymouth rider Clark Fountain, with Paeroa's Blake Ross, Taupiri's Zak Fuller and Whanganui's own Ollie Dennison completing the top five.
As well as being part of the three-round Suzuki Series, the Gixxer Cup grade has now been extended into the four-round 2018 New Zealand Superbike Championships, beginning in Christchurch on January 6-7, followed by Timaru, Hampton Downs and Taupo.
Riders will count six of the seven rounds from these two separate competitions, discarding points from their one worst round, to determine the inaugural Gixxer Cup champion.
