    |
 |
|
|
|
A crash wrecked Shaun Harris\'s chances of a clean sweep of the top five series in the Paeroa motorcycle races yesterday, but at the end of the day he was happy with four titles.
The New Plymouth Suzuki racer won three of his races on the hacksaw-shaped street circuit, and took advantage of his points leads in the different classes of the Yamalube Battle of the Streets series to ease off in other heats when he needed only a few more points to win his class.
Tony Rees of Kawerau won four of the five big-bike races for Yamaha, but he had missed the second round of the series at Gisborne and could not make up the points deficits.
Harris, 37, was particularly pleased to win the Robert Holden Memorial series, because Holden was his hero in his early days of racing. This was an invitation class for top riders from different classes.
As this was Harris\'s final Battle of the Streets meeting the victories enabled him to bow out in style.
\"It\'s the hardest thing in my life to go out and not race to win, but I\'ve got to be responsible,\" he said. \"Four out of five I can\'t complain with that, I\'m happy.\"
Harris started the hot day by winning the opening Formula Two race on his Suzuki GSX-R600, but then crashed his GSX-R1000 when trying too hard to follow Rees through a group of backmarkers. \"It was my fault, I just touched Tony\'s back wheel and that was all it took,\" he said.
He claimed the Open Sports Production title with a second placing in race one on his GSX-R750, and was able to sit out the final heat. He also wrapped up the F2 and 600cc Sports Production titles.
Rees won the two Open Sports Production races, the single Robert Holden Memorial feature event, and the first Formula One race on his Yamaha R1s. But he made a mistake at the final corner of the last F1 race, and Wanganui\'s Brian Bernard blasted his Suzuki GSX-R1000 through on the way to the line.
Harris\'s F1 crash opened the way for national champion Dean Fulton of Mt Maunganui to annex another major title, which he accomplished with a pair of second placings on his 750cc Kawasaki superbike.
New Plymouth veteran Terry Fitzgerald claimed the Formula Three series with a win and a third on his Suzuki GSX-R400, while the sidecar crown went to the pairing of Colin Buckley (Auckland) and Darren Abrahams (Gisborne), riding a Yamaha-powered outfit. They won their first race but were beaten in the second by Rotorua\'s Aaron Lovell and Philip Duthie.
Yamalube Battle of the Streets, final round, Paeroa
Formula One Race one:
Tony Rees (Kawerau) Yamaha R1, 1; Dean Fulton (Mt
Maunganui) Kawasaki ZX-7RR, Brian Bernard (Wanganui) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 3.
Race two: Bernard 1; Rees 2; Fulton 3.
Points: Fulton 113, Rees 95, Bernard 90.
Robert Holden Memorial feature race:
Rees 1; Bernard 2; Fulton 3; Shaun
Harris New Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 4; Craig Shirriffs (Palmerston
North) Kawasaki ZX-6R, 5.
Points: Harris 58, Rees 50, Bernard 49.
Formula Two Race one:
Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1;Craig Shirriffs
(Palmerston North) Kawasaki ZX-6R, , 2; Dennis Charlett (Palmerston North)
Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two: Harris 1; Shirriffs 2; Charlett 3.
Points: Harris 120, Shirriffs 105, Glen Williams (Auckland) Yamaha R6, 64.
Formula Three Race one:
Jason Easton (Foxton) Honda RS125, 1; Wayne
Blackwood (Cambridge) Yamaha FZR400, 2; Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth)
Suzuki GSX-R400, 3.
Race two:
Fitzgerald 1; Blackwood 2; Steve Bridge
(Hamilton) Ducati TT2, 3.
Points: Fitzgerald 141, Bridge 101, Craig Scott
(Wanganui) Kawasaki KX500, 84.
Open Sports Production Race one:
Rees, Yamaha R1, 1; Harris, Suzuki
GSX-R750, 2; Corey Oxenham (Mt Maunganui) Suzuki GSX-R750, 3.
Race two:
Rees 1; Bernard, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Fulton, Kawasaki ZX-9R, 3.
Points: Harris 101, Rees 100; Bernard 78.
600cc Sports Production Race one:
Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1; Shirriffs,
Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2; Charlett, Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two:
Charlett 1;
Shirriffs 2; Oxenham, Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Points: Harris 110, Shirriffs
101, Troy O\'Donoghue (Palmerston North) Kawasaki ZX-6R, 80.
Sidecars Race one:
Colin Buckley (Auckland)/Darren Abrahams (Gisborne)
Yamaha 1000, 1; Aaron Lovell/Philip Duthie (Rotorua) Suzuki 1100, 2; Stacey
Sellar (Australia)/Ash Voice (Masterton) Kawasaki 1100, 3.
Race two:
Lovell/Duthie 1; Buckley/Abrahams 2; Sellar/Voice 3.
Points: Buckley/Abrahams 145; Lovell/Duthie 116; Sellars/Voice 97.
