KIWI RIDER 01 2019 VOL.1 | Page 25

MOIR “Then I thought I’d go all-out in the (stand- alone) Robert Holden Memorial race. I led for every lap but then celebrated too early. I was pulling little wheelies… they weren’t even that good really. My pit board said ‘four seconds’ and I thought ‘Oh, that’s a pretty good lead’. But I slowed down a bit much eh? “I got a lap record in the Robert Holden race though, so that’s something. “I have learnt a lesson from this: Don’t celebrate too early and just race until the chequered flag.” The Suzuki Series’ various venues – Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding and then the public streets of Whanganui that make up the famous Cemetery Circuit raceway for the final round on Boxing Day – brought out the best in all the riders, but must now surely rate as Moir’s three favourites. If he remembers the lesson he was taught at Whanganui on Boxing Day, then he should surely again rate among the favourites to win both the premier F1 trophy and Robert Holden Memorial trophy too at the 2019 edition of this popular series. Meanwhile, the crowds at Whanganui on Boxing Day were also thrilled to get right behind local hero Richie Dibben, the Kiwi international making his comeback from recent injury. He delighted with his Super Motard bike prowess on the tight and twisty circuit, taking his Suzuki RM-Z450 to win both Super Motard outings. There was strong interest also in the Gixxer Cup class – reserved for riders aged between 14 and 21 years and all on identical Suzuki GSX150F bikes – where two young men had shared the glory in the earlier rounds of the series, Taupiri’s Zak Fuller and Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud, the son of Suzuki’s nine-time former national superbike champion and four-time former Suzuki Series champion Andrew Stroud. In the end, it was Fuller, riding for Kiwi Rider, who had all the answers at Whanganui. Fuller had twice finished runner-up to win the day at Whanganui last season, but this time around he scored stunning back-to-back wins. KIWI RIDER 25