GIXXER Cup in Suzuki Series

The fledgling GIXXER Cup class continues to impress, easily justifying its inclusion in the 2017 Suzuki Series, New Zealand’s hugely-popular pre-nationals road-race competition.

New Kiwi sports heroes are starting to emerge after the second of three rounds of the 2017 Suzuki Series at Manfeild last weekend – an event that was also the second round of seven that is listed for this new GIXXER Cup contest, meaning it will carry on into the New Year.

Paeroa’s Blake Ross, the points leader in the GIXXER Cup class, with five rounds still to be run. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

The GIXXER Cup class is reserved for riders aged between 14 and 21 years and all of them riding identical Suzuki GSX150F bikes. With weight ballast also added to the machines of some of the lighter riders, it further ensures parity and fairness for the mostly-novice road-racers.

It was intended that the racing would be intense, a level playing field being an ideal environment for the stars of tomorrow to learn their craft and spread their wings, as so it has proved after the first two rounds of the Suzuki Series, at Taupo on December 10 and then at Manfeild on December 17.

Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud, the 15-year-old son of nine-time former national superbike champion Andrew Stroud, scored back-to-back wins at Taupo and showed himself as a young man to watch for future stardom.

Also impressive at Taupo was Whanganui 19-year-old Tarbon Walker, although a crash in race one proved costly in terms of his points, and other stand-outs there were the 14-year-old Greymouth rider dubbed the “West Coast Warrior”, former motocross and speedway exponent Clark Fountain, with Paeroa’s Blake Ross, Taupiri’s Zak Fuller and Whanganui’s Ollie Dennison also applying voltage to the highly-charge class.

Tarbon Walker and Thomas Newton get up close and personal at Manfeild. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

Others to impress included Timaru’s Harry Parker, Feilding’s Scott Hawkes and Whanganui’s Cameron Goldfinch, although perhaps any number of the 18-rider field could be expected to force their way onto the podium by series end, and so it proved at Manfeild a week later.

The young men who shone most brightly at Manfeild again included Ross, Walker and Fountain, but the event also turned the spotlight on Pukekohe’s Thomas Newton, Invercargill’s Michael Wilson and Timaru’s Harry Parker.

Consistency is perhaps the only thing holding back Feilding’s Scott Hawkes – he finished third in one of his races at Taupo, but crashed out of the other, and it was the same story for him at Manfeild, where he again finished DNF-3.

Stroud crashed heavily during his qualifying session in the Formula Three class at Manfeild. He was taken to hospital for a check-up and took no further part in the day’s racing.

It is Ross who now leads the class, seven points ahead of Fountain, although these two riders, and a small number of the other GIXXER Cup riders too, do not meet the age criteria to be able to race at round three of the series on Boxing Day, the famous Cemetery Circuit public street race meeting at Whanganui.

With only six of the seven GIXXER Cup rounds to be counted, as riders ditch their worst round, it forces individuals such as Ross and Fountain to declare the Whanganui event their discard round.

Greymouth’s Clark Fountain, the “West Coast Warrior”, glides through the infield at Manfeild. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

The 15-year-old Ross calls himself a “mid-pack motocross racer”, although he’s certainly better than mid-pack as a road-racer, despite this being his debut season on the tarmac.

“I’m in shock really,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting this to happen. I was only hoping for a top-five, but so far it’s going better than that. It’s kind of a weird feeling and so different to motocross.

About to be a year 11 pupil at Paeroa College, Ross said he was on a “steep learning curve” with road-racing.

The GIXXER Cup – with the tagline “Growing Future Champions” – is a production racing class that will provide a springboard towards a successful racing future at higher levels.

The seven-round GIXXER Cup is an integral part of the Suzuki Tri-Series and will also be a feature of the four-round 2018 New Zealand Superbike Championships, beginning at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch, on January 6-7, with rounds to follow at Timaru, Hampton Downs and Taupo.

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

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Blake Ross leads Tarbon Walker at Manfeild. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

Whanganui’s Cameron Goldfinch and Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud share the race track at Manfeild. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

The GIXXER Cup class was always close racing … here we have Paraparaumu’s Matt Brough (39), Whanganui’s Ollie Dennison (19) and Taupiri’s Zak Fuller (33) at full throttle. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com