Bugden has perfect day in Superbikes

Media release from Motorcycling New Zealand

Sunday 15 January

Bugden has perfect day in Superbikes

Australian superbike ace Robbie Bugden enjoyed the perfect day as he totally dominated a strong field in round two of the Castrol Power1 Superbike Championships at Timaru today.

After qualifying nearly a second ahead of the rest yesterday, Bugden was able to maintain that gap in speed over his rivals as he ran away with both of today’s races, run in fine but windy conditions.

“It was a perfect day, to be honest,” Bugden said after the victories on his Triple R Suzuki. “The bike, the team, the tyres, the suspension – the whole thing worked well.”

Even when he had a lead of over 10 seconds – almost unheard of at this level – the gritty Aussie kept pushing hard.

“If you relax that’s when you can lose concentration and make mistakes,” he said. “It’s best to keep racing.”

Defending champion Andrew Stroud had no answer to Bugden’s speed as he posted a second and a third with his David Reid Homes Suzuki.

Rising star Sloan Frost from Wellington had qualified second on his BMW but a poor start to race one saw him out of contention for the top placings. He came back to post a fine second, comfortably clear of Stroud, in race two.

Hamilton’s Nick Cole was fourth in both races for Kawasaki, having a good scrap with Stroud in race two. Bugden’s Suzuki team-mate James Smith came third in race one, right behind Stroud, and sixth in race two.

Fans wanting to see a fight for first place would have been pleased with the 600cc Supersport races, fiercely fought by Suzuki riders Glen Skachill from Wellington and Denis Charlett and John Ross both from Christchurch. Positions changed frequently.

Ross and Skachill each scored a win and a third, with defending champion Charlett second both time. Ross leads this class by one point from Charlett and also stands second in Superbikes, where he rides a BMW.

Round three of the championships is at Invercargill’s Teretonga circuit this coming weekend.

For further information please call Bernard Carpinter, 0274-528-744. Attached photo is free to use and should be credited to fotocd.co.nz.

MOTORCYCLE RACING

Castrol Power1 New Zealand Superbike Championships, round two, Timaru.

Superbikes – Race one: Robbie Bugden (Australia) Suzuki 1; Andrew Stroud (Hamilton) Suzuki 2; James Smith (Christchurch) Suzuki 3; Nick Cole (Hamilton) Kawasaki 4; John Ross (Christchurch) BMW 5. Race two: Bugden 1; Sloan Frost (Wellington) BMW 2; Stroud 3; Cole 4; Ross 5. Championship points: Bugden 87.5, Ross 53, Stroud 49, Dan Stauffer (Australia, Yamaha) 42.5, Frost 41.

600cc Supersport -- Race one: John Ross (Christchurch) Suzuki 1; Dennis Charlett (Christchurch) Suzuki 2; Glen Skachill (Wellington) Suzuki 3; Alastair Hoogenboesem (West Melton) Suzuki 4; Karl Morgan (Auckland) Suzuki 5. Race two: Skachill 1; Charlett 2; Ross 3; Hoogenboesem 4; Jake Lewis (Christchurch) Yamaha 5. Points: Ross 86, Charlett 85, Skachill 70, A Hoogenboesem 50, James Hoogenboesem (West Melton, Suzuki) 39.

ends

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