SMILE A MILE WIDE | Bikesportnz

Bay of Plenty’s Sloan ‘Choppa’ Frost has a smile a mile wide after winning his first New Zealand Superbike Championship race last weekend.

The 29-year-old Tauranga man raced his 2010-model BMW S1000RR to the front of the star-studded superbike pack, stunning many onlookers and the cream of Kiwi and Australian talent, as he defied the atrocious weather conditions to dominate the glamour class at the abbreviated meeting, the second round of five in the series.

It was a proud moment for Frost, the rain spray streaming behind him as he crossed the line more than seven seconds ahead of defending national superbike champion Andrew Stroud (Discovery Channel Pirealli Suzuki) , of Hamilton, and three-time former New Zealand champion Robbie Bugden (Triple R Mack Truck Suzuki), of Australia.

It was Frost’s first win at national road-race championship level and also the first major superbike win for BMW in New Zealand.

Frost had qualified third fastest in the dry on Saturday, less than half a second off pole position, but on race day Sunday he set the fastest superbike time, one minute 4.09 seconds.

Unfortunately for all concerned, that eventually turned out to be the only superbike outing of the weekend — racing was curtailed after just that one superbike race as organisers declared it too dangerous to continue racing in the gale force winds and torrential rain.

“It’s a pity we couldn’t have the second race,” said Frost. “I was feeling pretty confident I could repeat that performance. I do think it was the right decision, though, to abandon racing for the day. It was pretty terrible on the track.”

The result elevated Frost from eighth overall after round one to third position, just 11 points behind Bugden.

“It was a fantastic result for me and for BMW too, especially considering who I was racing against in that superbike class. I felt pretty pumped to have Andrew and Robbie behind me.

“Australian Dan Stauffer (Bernard Racing Yamaha R1) broke away at the start and had a bit of a lead and it took me a while to get past Robbie Bugden. I managed to get past and then set out after Dan and got to within 40 metres of his rear wheel when I saw him go down.

“He had been looking back at me so I guess I must have had him worried. Perhaps the pressure got to him. It was certainly knife-edge racing in those conditions and any small mistake is punished.

“It just goes to show what a great bike the BMW is. It has traction-control as a standard feature and that certainly helped in the treacherous conditions.

“My goal is to finish the season in the top three and that’s where I am now so I just need to keep a cool head and ride smart. I’m confident I can win again.”

Frost has support from Tauranga businessman Robert ‘Moggy’ Ramshaw, RWR Fleet Maintenance, Valvoline, BNT, Stomp Grips, Colin Davis Panelbeaters, Shoei helmets, Teknic and RK Chains.

The riders now head to Ruapuna Park, Christchurch, for round three this weekend, before heading north for round four at Hampton Downs, near Meremere, on March 26-27, with the fifth and final round at Manfeild, near Palmerston North, on April 2-3.

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