He may be a long way from home, a first-time visitor to New Zealand and on a loaned bike, but Liechtenstein superbike ace Horst Saiger has wasted no time at all in rewarding his Kiwi hosts with thrills, excitement, some winning results and possibly a few laughs too.

Saiger took the Red Devil Racing Kawasaki New Zealand ZX10-R to two wins from two starts at the opening round of the Suzuki Tri Series at Hampton Downs on Sunday and even posted a new outright lap record for motorcycles in the process.

He was riding the same 2011-model Kawasaki that Hamilton’s Nick Cole had raced to victory in the same three-round series last season and, despite the two riders having little in common in terms of bike preferences, Saiger required virtually no adjustments to be done to the motorcycle before he made his debut Kiwi appearance against the elite from Australasia.

“The bike was good to go straight away. It felt very similar to the Kawasaki I raced in Europe this season,” said the easy-going 43-year-old German superbike champion.

Young Auckland rider Jaden Hassan qualified on pole for the Formula One-Superbike class, but Saiger quickly pushed that into the shade when he set a blistering new track record of one minute 03.213 seconds in the day’s first of two F1 races.

“I got a good start and won the first race (finishing 14 seconds ahead of Taupo’s Scott Moir after Hassan had crashed out while battling with Saiger for the lead).

“But I lost some speed going through turn one in race two. I had a big ‘moment’ and was really lucky not to crash. So, after that, I switched on the bike’s traction control and caught up to (race leader) Jaden Hassan.

Saiger took the lead from Hassan when the 20-year-old Kiwi rising star made a small mistake and he never looked back from there, winning the second race ahead of Suzuki rider Hassan by just a fraction over four seconds.

“The bike was not too different from what I race at home,” said Saiger. “The engine is very good. The only thing I needed to change was the bike’s seat because I was sliding off the back when I accelerated. I built up a little ramp at the rear to hold me in place.

“It is an old bike, a 2011 model, so perhaps if I crash it I won’t have to pay too much,” he laughed.

Saiger and his Red Devil Racing Kawasaki New Zealand crew will travel to Manfeild, on the outskirts of Feilding, this week to prepare for round two this coming Sunday.

“I have never seen Manfeild before either, so I want to get in as many laps as I can before the racing happens.”

Saiger is eight points clear of Moir (Suzuki) in the series standings, with Whakatane’s Tony Rees (Honda) in third position, just four points further back.

The third and final round of the series is set for the public streets of Wanganui, the famous Cemetery Circuit, on Boxing Day.

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

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Results from round one, Sunday December 7.

Formula 1, race 1: Horst Saiger (Liechtenstein, Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1; Scott Moir (Taupo, Suzuki GSXR1000), 2; Tony Rees (Whakatane, Honda CBR1000RR), 3; Dennis Charlett (Christchurch, Suzuki GSXR1000), 4; Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Suzuki GSXR1000) 5; Sloan Frost, (Wellington, Suzuki GSXR1000), 6.

Formula 1, race 2: Saiger, 1; Jaden Hassan (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR1000), 2; Moir, 3; Rees, 4; Frost, 5; Fitzgerald, 6.

F1 Series points: Saiger, 50; Moir, 42; Rees, 38; Charlett, 32; Frost & Fitzgerald, 31=.

Formula 2, race 1: Toby Summers (Auckland, Yamaha R6), 1; Shane Richardson (Wainuiomata, Honda CBR600RR), 2; James Hoogenboezem (Christchurch, Suzuki GSXR600), 3; Rhys Holmes (Tauranga, Yamaha R6), 4; Bailie Perriton (Ashburton, Suzuki GSXR600), 5; Nathaniel Diprose (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR600), 6.

Formula 2, race 2: Alistair Hoogenboezem (Christchurch, GSXR600), 1; Daniel Mettam (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR600), 2; Aaron Hassan (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR600), 3; Holmes, 4; Diprose, 5; Perriton, 6.

Formula 2 series points: Summers, Richardson & Holmes, 36=; Hassan, 35; Mettam & James Hoogenboezem, 33=.

Formula 3, race 1: Avalon Biddle, (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR450/3), 1; Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Suzuki SV650), 2; Leigh Tidman (Taumarunui, RS450), 3; Gavin Veltmeyer (Auckland, Suzuki GVR645), 4; Nick Southerwood (Auckland, Suzuki SV650), 5; Robert Whittall (Raglan, Suzuki SV650), 6.

Formula 3, race 2: Biddle, 1; Tidman, 2; Fitzgerald, 3; Ben Rosendaal (Whangamata, Suzuki SV650), 4; Whittall, 5; Royd Walker-Holt (Auckland, Kawasaki ER650), 6.

Formula 3 series points: Biddle, 51; Tidman & Fitzgerald, 42= ; Rosendaal & Whittall, 31= ; Southerwood, 30.

Supermoto race 1: Richard Dibben (Wanganui, Honda CRF450), 1; Aden Brown (Wanganui, Suzuki RM-Z450), 2; Duncan Hart (Tauranga, Yamaha YZF450), 3; Anthony Gerring (Waihi, Suzuki RM-Z450), 4; Ben Dowman (Wanganui, Honda CRF450), 5; Richard Swain (Wanganui, Honda CRF450), 6.

Supermoto race 2: Hart, 1; Dibben, 2; Brown, 3; Gerring, 4; Swain, 5; Dowman, 6.

Supermoto series points: Dibben, 48; Hart, 45; Brown, 42; Gerring, 36; Swain & Dowman, 31=.

Post Classic Pre ’89 race 1: Eddie Kattenberg (Te Awanga, Bimota YB8), 1; Phil Duxbury (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR1100), 2; Paul Wootton (Waikane, Suzuki GSXR1100), 3; Paul Russell (Auckland, Suzuki GSXR1100), 4; Sean Donnelly (Paraparaumu, Kawasaki Z1000R), 5; Andrew Skelton (Pukekohe, Suzuki GSXR1100), 6.

Post Classic Pre ’89 race 2: Kattenberg, 1; Duxbury, 2; Wootton, 3; Russell, 4; Skelton, 5; Donnelly, 6.

Post Classic Pre ’89 series points: Kattenberg, 51; Duxbury, 44; Wootton, 40; Russell, 36; Skelton & Donnelly, 31=.

F1 Sidecars race 1: Aaron Lovell/Tracey Bryan (Hamilton/Tauranga, LCR Suzuki), 1; Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe (Auckland, Windle F1), 2; Chris Lawrance/Richard Lawrance (Auckland, Anderson R1), 3; Corey Winter/Tim Shepherd (Wanganui, DMR), 4; Andy Scrivener/Steve Bryan (Taupo/Tauranga, DMR600), 5; Alex MacDonald/Andy Gorst (Kaiapoi, Suzuki 1000), 6.

F1 Sidecars race 2: Aaron Lovell/Tracey Bryan, 1; Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe, 2; Chris Lawrance/Richard Lawrance, 3; Corey Winter/Tim Shepherd, 4; Andy Scrivener/Steve Bryan, 5; Alex MacDonald/Andy Gorst, 6.

F1 Sidecars points: Aaron Lovell/Tracey Bryan, 51; Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawe, 44; Chris Lawrance/Richard Lawrance, 40; Corey Winter/Tim Shepherd, 36; Andy Scrivener/Steve Bryan, 32; Alex MacDonald/Andy Gorst, 30.

BEARS race 1: John Oliver (Feilding, BMW S1000RR), 1; Travis Moan (Auckland, BMW S1000RR), 2; Richard Taylor (Wellington, BMW S1000RR), 3; Dwayne Bishop (Wanganui, Aprilia RSV4), 4; Jason Bardell (Wanganui, Aprilia RSV4), 5; Shaun Manson (Wanganui, BMW HP4), 6.

BEARS race 2: Oliver, 1; Moan, 2; Bishop, 3; Bardell, 4; Daniel Hanley (Auckland, Ducati 999), 5; Robert Groves (Lower Hutt, Triumph Daytona 675), 6.

BEARS series points: Oliver, 50; Moan, 45; Bishop, 38; Bardell, 34; Hanley & Groves 29=.