Suzuki Series’ popularity
continues to grow
by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
It promises to be bigger and better than
before and that’s a tough pledge to keep.
Whanganui’s Allan ‘Flea’ Willacy is overjoyed
with the huge overseas interest being shown
ahead of this season’s annual Suzuki Series
motorcycle road-race competition and he
believes the 2017 edition, set to kick off in Taupo
on December 10, could be the biggest yet.
Each year Willacy organises for the public streets
of Whanganui to be closed off for a drama-filled 24-
hour Christmas-time period as he and his workers
run the renowned Cemetery Circuit event, one
of the very few motorcycle street race meetings
in the world. This year he has been absolutely
Glen Eden’s Daniel Mettam (Suzuki
GSX-R1000A), one of the favourites
to win the Suzuki Series this year
86KIWI RIDER
swamped with entrants, many more of them
from overseas than ever before, and he really will
be stretching the boundaries to fit them all in.
The Cemetery Circuit event on December 26
will again be the third and final round of the
popular annual Suzuki Series, which kicks off at
Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park near Taupo on
December 10, then takes riders to Manfeild, on the
outskirts of Feilding, for round two on December
17, before its traditional Boxing Day finale on
Whanganui’s streets. The Boxing Day event always
draws crowds in their thousands and invariably
turns on a spectacle worthy of all the attention.
Last year’s Suzuki Series winner was Whakatane’s