MAN OF MANY TALENTS | Bikesportnz

Taupo’s Scott Moir is a man of many talents and his potential is perhaps about to be unleashed by one of the fastest production motorcycles on the planet, the mighty Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Moir has raced with considerable success in both the motocross and super moto codes and, for the past couple of seasons, he has proven his ability to race a 1000cc superbike too, the pinnacle of the road-racing sports code.

The Taupo bike mechanic finished fourth overall in the popular Suzuki Series last year and fifth overall in the superbike class at the nationals last season, proving himself a fast learner with only two years of experience campaigning the powerful superbike.

The 2014 edition of the Suzuki Series kicked off at Hampton Downs, near Huntly, on Sunday and, when the dust cleared at the end of the day, Moir had taken his 2010-model Suzuki GSX-R1000 to claim second spot in the championship standings, the best of the Kiwis in the star-studded international line-up.

Liechtenstein resident Horst Saiger leads the series after this first of three rounds, the professional racer scoring back-to-back wins on Sunday, while Moir chimed in with a 2-3 score-card.

The 43-year-old Saiger (Kawasaki ZX10-R) easily won the day, finishing eight points clear of Moir in the series standings, with Whakatane’s Tony Rees (Honda CBR1000RR) in third position, just four points further back.

“This was the first time I’d ridden a superbike at Hampton Downs … and I was on old lap-record pace,” said the 30-year-old Moir afterwards.

“I got better as the day wore on. I qualified fifth fastest but finished on the podium. I’m pretty satisfied with that.

“I think this should set me up for a good season and now I just need to be consistent and see where that takes me.”

Fellow Suzuki rider Jaden Hassan had looked to be the only rider capable of challenging Saiger in either of the two races, the 20-year-old from Auckland taking his Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the lead early in race one.

However, he crashed out of that race and, regardless of how well he fares at the next round, that DNF will make it impossible for him to will the three-round, six-race series.

Hassan finished runner-up in race two on Sunday.

The next round of the Suzuki Series is at Manfeild this coming weekend, with the third and final round of the series set for the public streets of Wanganui, the famous Cemetery Circuit, on Boxing Day.

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