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'Local Lads Triumph at SsangYong Road Race Champs'
After a fantastic day’s racing at Round One of the SsangYong New Zealand Road Race Championships yesterday at Pukekohe Park, just south of Auckland, the local lads, Ray Clee of Kumeu and Sam Smith from Waiuku took out the day.
Clee won the Superbike TT for the third time but only just. The race was hard fought between Clee; Hamilton’s Andrew Stroud and the two Australians, Shawn Giles and Scott Charlton, all riding Suzukis, with the lead changing several times. Stroud out braked the field at the Hairpin on the last lap but was unable to hold the advantage and Clee came through to take the win by just 0.013 of a second from Charlton with Stroud third.
The 600 Sports Production TT was the day’s highlight for many with local 17 year-old Sam Smith winning on his Yamaha.
This is Smith’s first second in the top class, but he showed some of the older riders the way home. Smith had taken two thirds in the preliminary races with some hard riding but in the TT he took the lead five laps from home and held on for the win from Feilding’s Craig Shirriffs, Australian Chris Seaton and defending Champion Hamilton’s Andrew Stroud.
One rider dominated all the remaining classes.
New Plymouth’s Terry Fitzgerald returned to racing after 12months battling cancer to take three wins in the Formula three class.
Waiuku’s Dave Cole three wins in the 250cc Grand Prix class while Christchurch’s Andrew Evans won the three 125cc Grand Prix class races.
The New Zealanders had no answer for Australian Stacey Sellar in the sidecars, even when he developed clutch trouble and started from the pit road, he still passed the whole field for a convincing win in the Sidecar TT.
Provisional Results from Round One of The SsangYong New Zealand Road Race Championship Pukekohe 10/11 Dec. 2005.
