2010 Suzuki International Tri-Series
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Monday, December 27, 2010

Stroud Wins Third Suzuki Tri-Series

Andrew Stroud won his third successive Suzuki International Tri-Series in style at Wanganui on Boxing Day.

Suzuki GSX-R1000 mounted Stroud didn’t have it all his own way on the famous Cemetery Circuit however as rivals pushed the Hamiltonian in each of the premier F1 Superbike races.

To win the title Stroud only needed to finish ahead of street circuit rookie but main rival Robbie Bugden. Instead, the 42 year old father of eight went straight to the front in the opening F1 Superbike race to make a statement of intention. Within a few laps however Kawasaki mounted Nick Cole stormed into the lead, which he held for several laps until Stroud made his winning move and went on to take the chequered flag.

An average start left Craig Shirriffs (Suzuki GSX-R1000) to claw his Suzuki way up to and then past Australian Dan Stauffer, on a Yamaha, to cross the line third and fourth respectively, ahead of BMW’s Sloan Frost.

Former three-time NZ Superbike champion Bugden discovered racing on Wanganui’s famous Cemetery Circuit is quite difficult. The Australian had a slow start but worked his way up to sixth by race end, leaving Stroud with a more comfortable 14 point buffer before the final race.

The second re-start of the final leg proved disastrous for Bugden, who was taken out by another rider at turn one, along with Hamilton’s Cole. Bugden suffered a broken right leg (tibia and fibula) which saw an end to his title aspirations, although Cole made the delayed re-start. With the race proper underway Stroud lead for the first two corners when a brilliant Stauffer took control of the race to win his first street race, on debut, finishing ahead of Stroud and a charging Shirriffs, with Frost and Cole further back.

Stroud’s second place secured his third successive Suzuki Tri-Series title for Suzuki. Consistent riding from Frost earned second place for BMW, with an injured Bugden third, also for Suzuki.

Stroud says, “It’s good to be winning and the whole family appreciate it as well, cheering me on - they’re my biggest fans! In the first race Nick (Cole) had the pressure on the whole time, and the in the second race Dan Stauffer got in front of me early on and pulled a gap straight away. I was pushing reasonably had trying to catch him but it wasn’t happening, so that was it.”

The Robert Holden Memorial feature race was an epic thriller between Stroud and Stauffer, with the Australian re-taking the lead on the last corner to become the first ever Australian to win the prestigious Robert Holden Memorial trophy.

In the F2 600 category Glen Skachill and his Suzuki GSX-R600 remained unbeaten in all six Suzuki Tri-Series races to win that title, ahead of Dennis Charlett and Karl Morgan.

The massive Wanganui crowd weren’t disappointed with Davide ‘Speedy’ Gozzini’s two 450 Supermoto wins for TM. Gozzini was pushed hard by fellow Italian Andrea Occhini and Kiwi Jayden Carrick in each race yet wrapped up his second Suzuki Tri-Series championship in as many years. Toby Summers was second in the series with Carrick third.

The Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen pairing scored two good wins aboard their sleek Suzuki LCR1000 sidecar, ahead of the Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe and Darryl and Scott Dowman combinations. Bron and Simonsen’s victories were enough to win the series title from last year’s winners Unsworth and Dawe. Des James and Jonathan Shaw were third.

Other class series winners were Sean Donnelly for Kawasaki in Post Classics, Scott Moir in Open Supermoto, defending F3 champion Terry Fitzgerald on a Suzuki SV650 with Scott Moir a close second, and John Ross in BEARS racing a BMW S1000RR.

John Woodley finished down the order at Wanganui on his MV Agusta R312 in each BEARS heat, to complete his first series in three decades in fourth position, behind Australian Joel Reed, and Peter Tanner. Woodley recalled his last race at Wanganui was in 1979.

2010 Suzuki International Tri-Series results from Wanganui, Sunday December 26.

F1 Superbikes race 1: Andrew Stroud (Hamilton, Suzuki GSXR1000), 1; Nick Cole (Hamilton, Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2; Craig Shirriffs (Feilding, Suzuki GSXR1000), 3; Dan Stauffer (Australia, Yamaha YZF R1), 4; Sloan Frost (Tauranga, BMW S1000RR), 5; Robbie Bugden (Australia, Suzuki GSXR1000), 6.
Race 2: Stauffer, 1; Stroud, 2; Shirriffs, 3; Frost, 4; Cole, 5; James Smith (Christchurch, Suzuki GSXR1000), 6.
Final series points; Andrew Stroud, 141; Sloan Frost, 119; Robbie Bugden, 105; Nick Cole, 92; Craig Shirriffs, 91; Dan Stauffer, 74.

Robert Holden Memorial: Dan Stauffer, 1; Andrew Stroud, 2; Sloan Frost, 3; Nick Cole, 4; Andrew Nelson (Canada, Yamaha YZF-R1), 5; James Smith, 6.

F2 600 Supers race 1: Glen Skachill (Wellington, Suzuki GSXR600), 1; Dennis Charlett (Christchurch, Suzuki GSXR600), 2; Adam Chambers (Clive, Kawasaki ZX600), 3; John Ross (Christchurch, Yamaha YZF-R6), 4; Karl Morgan (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR600), 5; Ashley Payne (Wanganui, Suzuki GSXR600) 6.
Race 2: Skachill, 1; Charlett, 2; Chambers, 3; Morgan, 4; Payne, 5; Ross, 6.
Final series points; Glen Skachill, 126; Dennis Charlett, 88; Karl Morgan 81; Adam Chambers, 80; John Ross 80; Jaden Hassan (Auckland, Yamaha YZF-R6), 76.

450 Supermoto race 1: Davide Gozzini (Italy, TM SMX450F), 1; Andrea Occhini (Italy, Suzuki RMZ450), 2; Jayden Carrick (Wanganui, Suzuki RMZ450), 3; Toby Summers (Auckland, Yamaha YZF450), 4; Richard Dibben (Wanganui, Honda CRF450), 5; Duncan Hart (Tauranga, Husqvarna SMRR450), 6.
Race 2: Gozzini, 1; Occhini, 2; Carrick, 3; Summers, 4; Dibben, 5; Steven Croad (Auckland, Honda CRF450), 6.
Final series points; Davide Gozzini, 148; Toby Summers, 122; Jayden Carrick, 122; Andrea Occhini, 116; Richard Dibben, 100; Duncan Hart, 88.

Supermoto Open race 1: Scott Birch (Rotorua, Aprilia SXV550), 1; Scott Moir (Taupo, Aprilia SXV550), 2; Casey Bullock (Taupo, Aprilia SXV550), 3; Doug Stockwell (Auckland, Aprilia SXV550), 4; John Oliver (Hawera, Aprilia SXV550), 5; Leeroy Verdegem (New Calendonia, TM530); 6.
Race 2: Moir, 1; Birch, 2; Bullock 3; Verdegen, 4; Glenn Haden (Wanganui, Honda CRF490), 5; Nick Payne (Wanganui, Husqvarna SMR570) 6.
Final series points; Scott Moir, 146; Scott Birch, 139; Craig Flood (New Plymouth, Aprilia SXV550), 90; Lewis Waho (Taupo, Aprilia SXV550), 84; Doug Stockwell, 82; Glenn Haden, 81.

F1 Sidecars race 1: Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen (Wanganui/Masterton, Suzuki LCR1000), 1; Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe (Wanganui, Windle F1 1000), 2; Darryl Dowman/Scott Dowman (Wanganui, Yamaha R1 1000), 3; Stu Prentis/Louise Blythe (Hawera, Yamaha 1000), 4; Des James/Johnathon Shaw (Auckland, Applecross GSXR1000), 5; Darren Pate/Karl Verdell (Katikati, Kawasaki 1000), 6.
Race 2: Bron/Simonsen, 1; Unsworth/Dawe, 2; Prentis/Blythe, 3; Dowman/Dowman, 4;
James/Shaw, 5; Tracey Anderson/Steve Bryan (Tauranga, Yamaha DMR 600), 6.
Final series points; Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen, 196; Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe, 177; Des James/Jonathan Shaw, 96; Darren Pate/Karl Verdellen, 90; Brian Read/Darren Prentis (Auckland, Kawasaki ZX10R), 63; Stu Prentis/Louise Blythe (Hawera, Yamaha 1000) 58.

Post Classic race 1: Glen Williams (Palmerston North, Yamaha FZR1000), 1; Sean Donnelly, (Paraparaumu, Kawasaki GPZ1100), 2; Mike Webster (Wellington, Kawasaki ZXR H1 750), 3; Jason Hulme (Marton, Honda NC30 400), 4; Peter Smith (Rotorua, Suzuki 1989 GSXR1100), 5; Bernard Ryan, 6.
Race 2: Williams, 1; Donnelly, 2; Webster, 3; Smith, 4; Ryan, 5; Hulme, 6.
Final series points; Sean Donnelly, 123; Mike Webster, 107; Glen Williams, 101; Jason Hulme, 94; Chris Sales (Feilding, Honda XR500), 60; Graham Moorhead (Takapuna, Suzuki GS1000), 51.

BEARS race 1: Sloan Frost (Tauranga, BMW SS1000R), 1; John Ross (Christchurch, BMW S1000RR), 2; Peter Tanner (Feilding, Aprilia RSVR1000), 3; Joel Reed (Australia, Aprilia RSV4), 4; Mark Perry (Palmerston North, Aprilia RSV1000), 5; Steve Bridge (Ngaruawahia, Ducati F1 1000), 6.
Race 2: Frost, 1; Ross, 2; Tanner, 3; Reed, 4; Perry, 5; Jarrod Wintle, 6.
Final series points; John Ross, 141; Joel Reed, 112; Peter Tanner, 109; John Woodley (Australia, MV Agusta R312), 76; Damian Mackie (Te Puke, Ducati 998S), 68; Duncan Coutts (Whangarei, Aprilia RSVR1000), 57.

F3 Sportbikes race 1: Scott Moir (Taupo, Honda RSV450), 1; Glen Williams (Palmerston North, Suzuki SVR650), 2; Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Suzuki SV650), 1; Daniel Kempthorne (Palmerston North, Suzuki SV650), 4; Paul Duncan (Rotorua, Suzuki SV650), 5; Yoshi Kishimoto, 6.
Race 2: Moir, 1; Williams, 2; Fitzgerald, 3, Kempthorne, 4; Bentley (Lower Hutt, Suzuki SV650), 5; Kishimoto, 6.
Final series points; Terry Fitzgerald, 134; Scott Moir, 131; Geoff Booth (Dannevirke, Suzuki SV650), 74; Daniel Kempthorne, 96; Dean Bentley, 60; Jason Easton (Palmerston North, Tigcraft Aprilia), 47

ENDS

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