New Zealand has a brand-new national superbike champion and it is Upper Hutt’s Rogan Chandler (pictured here).
The premier grade in the 2026 New Zealand Superbike Championships was a battle between two BMW riders for the final glory at Taupo’s final round at the weekend, Chandler and Whanganui’s Luca Durning starting the weekend level on points at the top of the standings.
The feature NZ Superbike TT and championship overall was virtually decided when Durning and Australian Max Stauffer came together and crashed out of the second superbike race of the weekend in Taupo. They had been running second and third respectively at the time.
With Durning gone, Chandler raced to the chequered flag and claimed the TT title – the Geoff Perry Trophy – and also the national championship title overall.
It was his first national title in his debut appearance in this 1000cc class, although Chandler is no stranger to the winners’ circle after he had notably claimed the 600cc Formula Two title three times during the popular Suzuki International Series, in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Australian-based former Christchurch rider Jake Lewis, and a six-time former national champion, added the 2026 season 600 Supersport TT title to his list of NZ GP and TT wins.
It was no easy win for Lewis, with Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud and Auckland’s Haydn Fordyce pushing him all the way.
It was Stroud who won the final 600 Supersport race and with it the Damon Rees Memorial trophy.
Silverdale’s Tyler King took the win in the final Sportbike class race of the series, and collected the TT title in the process, but Taupiri’s Zak Fuller rode safely for the points, finishing third to take the championship by just one point from King.
Meanwhile, Christchurch’s Hunter Charlett added the 150 Supersport championship title win to his national 300 Supersport crown and he also achieved a unique “double treble”, winning the three prestige races over the series – NZ Grand Prix, Aaron Slight Trophy and NZ TT – in each class.
His multi-time former champion father Dennis Charlett won the Pro Twins title ahead of Orere Point rider Azlan Blackwell and Torbay’s Cameron Leslie.
The battle for the sidecars class title went down to the final chequered flag of the season.
Although Panmure’s Adam Unsworth, with Whanganui’s Bryce Rose, won the TT title at Taupo, overall series honours went to Masterton team Spike and Bubba Taylor, whose third place in the final race was enough to win the main class prize ahead of Tokomaru’s Barry and Dave Smith.
© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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2026 NZSBK final standings:
Superbikes:
1: Rogan Chandler 255
2: Luca Durning 229
3: Al Hoogenboezem 176
4: Dave Sharpe 130
5: James Hoogenboezem 119
6: Morgan McLaren-Wood 87
7: Dale Finch 76
8: Max Stauffer 16
600 Supersport:
1: Jake Lewis 283
2: Haydn Fordyce 181
3: Ashton Hughes 169
4: Jesse Stroud 141
5: Karl Hooper 141
6: Seth Devereux 128
7: Cameron Leslie 90
8: Keiran Mair 81
9: Logan Rowell 70
10: Jacob Pierce 25
Sportbike:
1: Zak Fuller 209
2: Tyler King 208
3: Nixon Frost 135
4: Luke Ryder 114
5: Simon Attridge 91
6: Josh Goddard 65
7: Karl Kampenhout 52
8: Jesse Stroud 37
9: Jonny Lewis 33
10: Ben Rosendaal 26
ProTwins:
1: Dennis Charlett 218
2: Azlan Blackwell 159
3: Cameron Leslie 152
4: Marcus Thompson 116
5: Vaughan Maine 106
6: Megan Kemp 89
7: Andrew Ness 74
8: Greg Percival 57
9: Shaun Parker 48
10: Scott Finlay 41
300 Supersport: *
1: Hunter Charlett 303
2: Alvin Wu 167
3: Harriet Grace 150
4: Diego Petrucci 131
5: Chris Reynolds 120
6: Jakob Henderson 113
7: Joe Stroud 98
8: Lucas Hyslop 91
9: Seb Mitchell 85
10: Anson Huang 77
*Provisional result
150 Supersport:
1: Hunter Charlett 299
2: Ryder Chamberlain 236
3: Billy Macrae 185
4: Samuel Chave 132
5: Izzy Smith 128
6: Troy Stephens 97
7: Tyler Lambarth 74
8: Samuel Mabey 37
Sidecars:
1: Spike Taylor & Bubba Taylor 213
2: Barry Smith & Dave Smith 208
3: Phillip Law & Angus Ravenwood 202
4: Burt Wolland & Vaughan Maine 133
5: Dave McArthur & James Williams 126
6: Peter Bradder & Vincent Kerslake 83
7: Peter Goodwin & George Vennell 56
8: Glen Spencer & Graham Wilkinson 55
9: Bryce Rickard & Andrew Shields 45
10: Simon Attridge & Vince Wood 33