What a way to kick off the New Zealand road-race season.

Manfeild turned on the weather for a glorious day of close racing on Saturday as the ProMoto Tri Series kicked off in the Manawatu.

Round two is on the streets of Wanganui on Boxing Day, followed by the third and final round just two days later, at Taupo, on December 28.

Big winner on the day at Manfeild was Feilding Honda rider Craig Shirriffs, who won three races from three starts the two Tri-Series superbike legs and the third non-points race as well. The defending champion, Hamilton Suzuki rider Andrew Stroud, had a day to forget when he dnfed leg one thanks to a minor circlip problem with his after-market rear wheel. He came back to win race two but is now forced to play catch-up for points through the rest of the series.

Flying Englishman Midge Smart, now back in New Zealand and again calling Inglewood his home, is a crucial part of the Sean Harris-run Moto Dynamix team. He finished the day third overall inn the 600 “Supers” class at Manfeild, behind Wellington’s Glen Skachill (Suzuki) and Christchurch’s John Ross (Yamaha).

Some of the best racing of the weekend was seen in the Super Motard class where classy Italian visitors Ivan Lazzarini (Honda) and Davide Gozzini (TM) delighted the crowd with their sideways style. They were, however, surprisingly forced to bow to the superior riding of a couple of Kiwis, Taupo’s Scott Moir (Aprilia)  and Auckland’s Toby Summers (Aprilia, Yamaha).

It was holeshot time for Taranaki Honda man Hayden Fitzgerald, leading from the start in two of the three superbike races and turning that into 2-4 results for the day, enough to place him second overall in the series after round one.

Come back tomorrow, when we’ll have a few more words and a few more photos to show you too.

Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com