MIXED BLESSINGS AT MANFEILD

It was a memorable day of motorcycle racing for the Kawasaki crews at Manfeild on Sunday, for good reasons and for bad.

And while Liechtenstein rider Horst Saiger (Kawasaki ZXR-10R) may have preferred not to talk about his troublesome afternoon and his Red Devil Racing Kawasaki team-mate from Switzerland, Roman Stamm, could certainly be forgiven for feeling distraught, it was a glorious ‘coming of age’ for a third Kawasaki rider, Wainuiomata’s Shane Richardson.

They were three very different stories that came out of the Kawasaki camps at the weekend.

Saiger continues to lead the glamour Formula One class after two of three rounds of the annual Suzuki Series, although he is now forced to share the top spot with Suzuki rider Sloan Frost, of Wellington, and this is despite Saiger again dominating the racing on Sunday.

Stamm crashed his Kawasaki ZX6 spectacularly when he tangled with a slower rider during qualifying early on Sunday and, with his bike a write-off and with Stamm suffering “over-extended hamstrings on both legs”, he was out for the day.

Stamm had won both Formula two 600 Supers class races at the opening round of the series at Hampton Downs a week earlier and had arrived at Manfeild with a solid lead over his nearest threats, Glen Eden’s Daniel Mettam and Wainuiomata’s Shane Richardson.

But Stamm could only sit helplessly by at Manfeild and watch as Richardson (Kawasaki ZX6) mounted a ferocious attack, spectacularly winning the first F2 race and then also winning the accident-marred second race, which was run in two parts.

It was a fairytale afternoon for 20-year-old Richardson, who only started racing road bikes in October 2012.

“I raced motocross from ages four to 16 and then got a street bike to go riding on the road at weekends. At first, mum wouldn’t let me ride on the road until I got my full licence, so I went to a track day and that sort of kicked things off. I bought my first proper race bike in January 2013.”

Now, less than three years later, he’s among the elite of the sport and at the weekend he clocked a personal best time around Manfeild of one minute 7.758 seconds.

“I was surprised at how well I did,” said the apprentice joiner. “I don’t think I should need to push it too hard now at the final round (on Whanganui’s famous Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day). I just need to do enough to win.”

Richardson leads the F2 class by nine points from Mettam, who injured his shoulder in a crash in race two on Sunday, with Whakatane’s Damon Rees third overall, 11.5 points behind Richardson.

The Cemetery Circuit event on December 26 will be a crucial one for Saiger as well.

The 44-year-old Saiger suffered a terrible start in the first of two F1 races at Manfeild on Sunday, but impressively carved his way through the pack to take the lead and ride away with victory, while nearest rival Frost settled for second spot.

The next race was almost a carbon copy, Saiger again forced to battle through traffic before crossing the finish line ahead of Frost. But that wasn’t the end of it, with officials adjudging that Saiger had jumped the start.

He was penalised 20 seconds and this relegated him to sixth position, handing the second race win instead to Frost.

Incredibly, Saiger also set a new F1 lap record in that second race, posting a time of one minute 5.008 seconds.

With Frost scoring 2-1 results and Saiger credited with 1-6, the day’s podium belonged to Frost, with Saiger, Whakatane’s Tony Rees (4th and 2nd) and Taupo’s Scott Moir (3rd and 3rd) sharing overall runner-up for the event.

The riders now head to the final round at Whanganui, with everything to fight for, Saiger and Frost now equal first in the F1 class standings.

Saiger was philosophical about his day at Manfeild.

“It wasn’t a bad day. I’m looking forward to Whanganui and the Cemetery Circuit. It’s better for the competition (that the racing is close). There will be no silly games … I’ll just ride as hard as I can.”

Other class leaders after two of three rounds of the series are Taumarunui’s Leigh Tidman (F3 sports bikes, Yamaha RS450); Te Awanga’s Eddie Kattenberg (post classics seniors, pre-89, Bimota YB8S); Hamilton’s Shayne Lawrey (post classics juniors, pre-89, Yamaha FZR600J); Feilding’s John Oliver (Bears, juniors, non-Japanese bikes, BMW S1000RR); Raglan’s Robert Whittall (Bears, seniors, Aprilia SXV550) and Waipukurau’s Craig Sergeant (Bears, seniors, Triumph 675R) (first equal); Whanganui’s Richard Dibben (super moto, Honda CRF450); UK pair Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (sidecars, LCR Kawasaki ZXR-10R).

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