Shane Richardson
done and allow him to wrap up his first major
road-racing title.
Moir took his Suzuki GSX-R1000A to qualify
fastest in the premier Formula One class and then
convincingly won the first of the day’s two F1 races,
a start-to-finish win bolstering his points advantage
to 10 points over Glen Eden’s fellow Suzuki Team
rider Mettam, whose runner-up finish in that race
kept alive his chances of snatching the crown
for 2017.
Mettam is no stranger to winning titles, having
collected the Suzuki Series’ 600cc Formula Two
trophy in 2015 and the national 600cc supersport
title in 2016, but he was up against Moir at the
height of his powers. And when Moir battled his way
to a runner-up finish in the day’s second F1 race
at Whanganui, passing the chequered flag just 2.6
seconds behind another Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider,
Lower Hutt’s Jay Lawrence, the Suzuki Series crown
was all his. Mettam finished fourth in that second F1
race and he secured the F1 class No.2 spot for 2017,
with Whakatane’s Mitch Rees (Honda CBR1000)
claiming the third podium position for the series
thanks to his pair of sixth places at Whanganui.
All that remained to make it a perfect weekend
for Moir would be for him to win the stand-
KIWI RIDER 23