HASSAN WINS BATTLES; ROSS WINS WAR

Auckland’s Jaden Hassan won both his battles on Sunday but, unfortunately for him, he was unable to win the war.

Hassan put Yamaha at the top of the 600cc supersport class at the fifth and final round of the New Zealand Superbikes Championships in Taupo on Sunday, but it wasn’t quite enough to clinch the title at the end of a brutal and unforgiving series, top honours instead going to Christchurch Suzuki ace John Ross.

Hassan (Homebuyers Reports Yamaha R6) has had a difficult time of it this season with the early rounds of the championship not going his way.

At the opening round of the series on the outskirts of Christchurch in January, Hassan finished the day first equal overall, level with Canterbury’s Ross (Repsol Suzuki GSX-R600).

Hassan then experienced a massive set-back at round two near Timaru, suffering a crash during the weekend’s preliminary qualifying session.

He braved the pain to nurse his way to an unaccustomed 12th in the first of two 600cc Supersport races the following day and then, in too much pain, he withdrew before the start of the day’s second race.

That 12th placing and subsequent no-show meant he slipped from first equal to a distant and disappointing fourth in the championship rankings.

But the teenager showed up at round three at Teretonga, near Invercargill, just a week later, with his broken left wrist securely braced.

Remarkably, he qualified fastest, then he again weathered the pain to battle his way to third and second in the two races. Ross won both races and extended his championship lead but at least Hassan was back in the hunt, at that stage up to second on the points table.

A couple of third placings at a rain-drenched Hampton Downs, the penultimate round of the series just over a week ago, set the championship up for a thrilling climax at Taupo with Hassan now just 16 points behind his rival and with an outside chance of snatching the title away.

Hassan won both the 600cc supersport races at Taupo’s final round on Sunday, leading home fellow Yamaha ace Jake Lewis (Stadium Finance Yamaha R6), of Rangiora, who finished third and second on the day.

Ross shared Sunday’s results with fellow Cantabrian Lewis, finishing second and then third on the day, giving him enough points to claim the title.

“I did today what I needed to do, claim pole position and secure two wins, but Ross did want he needed to do too, keeping me in sight on the race track,” said Hassan.

“I’m naturally disappointed to finish runner-up this season. I had a few distinct moments of bad luck but I’ll be back stronger next season, possibly moving up to a 1000cc bike in the superbike class.

All results in the class are provisional, however, with the outcome of a protest hearing still to be heard, although the championship win by Ross will be unaffected by that.

For 31-year-old Ross, he was thrilled to “finally crack it” and score his first national championship title.

“I knew that, if Jaden won the races, I had to finish third or better. Finishing fourth would have been useless to me today,” said Ross afterwards.

“It was a combination today of doing what had to be done and not crashing. I was riding hard but I had enough left in reserve that, if I had to cut loose, I could.

“It’s great to get the monkey off my back and finally win a title. I was running second (behind fellow Christchurch Suzuki rider Dennis Charlett) last year when I broke my wrist with two rounds to go.”

It has been a big year for Ross. He became a father for the first time just a few weeks earlier, his daughter Amelia born just before racing was due to kick off at Hampton Downs.