Enduring a cracked wrist and facing a horde of seasoned international professionals was not enough to deter Taupo’s Scott Moir as he led the Kiwi charge at the popular Suzuki Series this season.

Though in only his third season on board the mighty Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike, Moir belied his relative inexperience in the premier Formula One/Superbike class as he pushed eventual series winner Horst Saiger (Red Devil Racing Kawasaki ZX10-R) right to the brink, his most impressive performance coming at Boxing Day’s third and final round of the series, racing around the public streets of Wanganui.

Moir (Promoto Suzuki GSX-R1000) finished fourth in Friday’s first of two Formula One/Superbike races on the famous Cemetery Circuit course, just one place behind Austrian rider Saiger, but Moir stepped it up to roar to victory in the next race, while Saiger could manage only fifth.

But it just wasn’t quite enough for the brave Kiwi to snatch the trophy away.

As it turned out for the final series analysis, Saiger, a fulltime racer with vast international experience, ultimately won the series by just three points from the hard-charging Moir.

“I rode fairly conservatively in the first F1 race but I managed to get a bit of a sniff of (race one winner) Tony Rees in the second race and managed to take the win away from him,” said the 30-year-old Moir matter-of-factly.

“My wrist is still a bit sore after my crash (at round two) at Manfeild a fortnight ago. The doctor wanted to put a plaster cast on it but I suggested we could wait until after the racing at Wanganui and after another scan I’m getting on the wrist next check-up. They might put a cast on it this coming week and that could be a problem too because the nationals start in just two weeks’ time.

“It was uncomfortable racing today, but I guess I still had the speed eh?

“I’m pretty happy with my results from this series. I’m the first Kiwi home and against all these world class riders. Consistency was the secret.”

The Suzuki Series continues to grow in stature each year, it’s popularity rivalling that of the New Zealand Superbike Championships and drawing large spectator crowds at each of the three rounds.

Other class winners for the series this season were:

Manukau’s Toby Summers (F2 600cc class); Taumarunui’s Leigh Tidman (F3 Sport bikes); Feilding’s John Oliver (Bears – non-Japanese bikes); Tauranga’s Duncan Hart (Super Moto); Marton’s Jason Hulme (Junior Pre 89 Post Classics); Te Awanga’s Eddie Kattenberg (Senior Pre 89 Post Classics); Waikato’s Aaron Lovell and Tracey Bryan (F1 sidecars).

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

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