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It took Huapai’s Ray Clee and his Castrol Honda CBR900 only a few laps to take command of both the Open Sports Production and RK Chain \"A\" Grade classes at Round Two of the 1999 Suzuki Road Race Series at Manfeild on Saturday.
Beaten only once during the day, Clee’s first visit to this popular series could have been a clean sweep but for the re-appearance of local man Ross Drinkwater & his Kawasaki ZXR750 Superbike in the RK \"A\" Grade, with less than a second separating them in the first race. Clee was soon \"in the groove\" and won each of their subsequent clashes by 5 seconds.
But the 600cc Sports production class was a case of shared winners. One rider from each brand taking a win. Mt. Maunganui rider Corey Oxenham (Kawasaki ZX6R) won the first race, Daniel McLachlan from Lower Hutt took out the second with his Suzuki GSXR600, and local man Warren Turner the 3rd encounter riding his Phil Turnbull Motorcycles Yamaha R6. Turner now leads this class in the series.
Making a rare appearance in road racing, Masterton’s Tony Sampson took hold of the Shoei Helmets \"B\" Grade Class with 3 straight wins, but Hamilton’s Adrian Cox on a Road & Sport Suzuki TL1000R, while second overall on the day, still leads the class overall in the series.
John Stewart from Pawanui riding the Moewai Steel Ducati 916 borrowed from Ed Molijn, won all 3 Pirelli Dragon Evo Tyres \"C\" Grade races easily from newcomer to road racing Sam Barling from Milford on his Suzuki GSXR750, with Craig Gollop thundering along in 3rd place on his monster Harley.
The Formula 3 Plus Honda supported class saw 3 Tauranga riders in a tight geese in-flight formation all day. Although Bill van den Hoeven on his Yamaha FZR400 won, he was \"honked\" every inch of the way by Glen Tanner (Honda VFR400 NC30) and Darryl Rowe-Mitchell (Suzuki). Van den Hoeven leads this class overall in the series.
Ray Wilson from Bulls, on only his second ride on a Honda RS125 took 3 wins from similarly mounted OB Wilson (Auckland), while Kendric Younger from Te Aroha riding a Yamaha TZR250 led last years class winner Dean Russo (Suzuki RGV250) to 3rd & 4th place respectively. This Aprilia Motorcycles supported class combines both 125GP bikes with Production 250cc two-strokes, competitive & popular.
150 riders enjoyed a great days racing, with 9 new to road racing, & 5 \"recycled\" riders making racing comebacks. Significant among the new riders were \"dirt riders\" Scott Wilkins & Brad Graham riding \"Streetstock 150\" Kawasakis.
The 1999 Suzuki Road Race Series is supported by – Suzuki, Shoei Helmets, RK Takasago Chain, Shinko Tyes, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, Kiwi Motorcycle Rider, Pirelli Tyres, Aprilia Motorcycles, Bike Mart, Red Baron Motorcycles, Motor Cycle Trader & News.
