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SUPERMOTO: An Instant Hit
THIS Saturday, July 6, Taupo's Centennial Park Raceway hosts the first of two sensational new sideways sliding events that look set to shake up the motorcycle racing calendar.
It's Suzuki Supermoto.
Supermoto is the fastest growing form of motorcycle racing in Europe and with the inauguration of a World Supermoto Championship this year which includes rounds in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand there is a buzz of excitement surrounding the class.
Australia has just staged its first official Supermoto Championship and in New Zealand, the first true Supermoto was run at Taupo on April 27. It proved an instant hit, attracting riders of the calibre of former World 500 Motocross Champion Shayne King and BSL GP rider Stephen Briggs as well as international road-racer Simon Turner.
In fact, so excited is Turner about Supermoto he has flown to Europe to contest the final round of the Italian Supermoto Championship.
Similarly, Stephen Briggs hopes to contest a few European rounds of the World Supermoto Championship to be fully match fit to contest the local round in November.
In the meantime, Briggs is happy to hone his skills at Taupo's Suzuki Supermoto and will once again turn out on his BSL-backed KTM on Saturday. Keeping him honest will be class regulars Kendrick Younger of Te Aroha and New Plymouth's Craig Flood while the Suzuki Supermoto has brought former New Zealand and British 600 Supersport Champion Rodney Knapp out of retirement.
But the real surprise package could be Paeroa's Mark Whyte (Suzuki DR-Z400). A late entry at the inaugural April meeting, Whyte missed out untimed practice and saw the track for the first time in qualifying. In a stunning Supermoto debut, he set fastest lap time to put his Suzuki DR-Z400 on pole for the first race.
In the three races, he finished in third place first time out, beaten only by King and Briggs. The second race saw Whyte crash his Suzuki DR-Z400 just after passing King. Showing his determination, he picked up the Suzuki, kicked it back to life and still made a point scoring finish in 13th place.
In the third race he again scored a third place finish.
While Briggs and King were running road-racing 17-inch wheels and tyres, Whyte had simply fitted a 21-inch road tyre to the stock Suzuki front wheel and similarly mounted a road tyre on the standard Suzuki 18-inch rear wheel.
Immediately after his first Supermoto event, he re-fitted the standard knobbly enduro tyres, drove to Pahiatua and finished second in class in the Suzuki North Island Enduro Championship.
"That's the great thing with Supermoto," enthuses event organiser Todd Sutherland. "You can simply take a competition dirt bike, fit road tyres and you've got a whole new world at your feet."
Catch the Supermoto action at Taupo this Saturday, July 6, or see them slide and slither around Taupo on Sunday, August 4.
For more information, contact TODD SUTHERLAND
Telephone: 09 416-5307
Mobile: 025 292-6889
FAX: 09 416-5308
E-mail: bikemart@xtra.co.nz
