Start-Supersport 300
The 2023-24 New Zealand Superbike Championships ( NZSBK ) literally zoomed through the first four of six rounds in December and January and , with just two more rounds remaining , we now have a pretty clear idea where the various titles might end up . Australian visitor Ant West ( in the Superbikes ), Invercargill ’ s Cormac Buchanan ( Supersport 600 ), Mahana ’ s Jonny Lewis ( Super Twins ), Taupo ’ s Karl Hooper ( Formula Three ), Masterton ’ s Eva Wintle ( GIXXER 150 ) and Whanganui F2 Sidecar duo Peter and Michael Dowman all seem to have a firm grip on their respective classes and it might take either a miracle or disaster for that to change .
SUPERBIKES However , when we consider that points from only five of the six rounds are to be counted in this 2023-24 season – with riders to discard their worst round score – and we do a few quick mathematical calculations , it all could change . West skipped round one entirely , due to a clash with his Australian racing commitments , so his “ drop round ” will obviously be the Taupo event . He will therefore discard a big fat zero from his series tally . West is actually second to Whakatane ’ s defending national superbike
champion Mitch Rees in the current standings , but only by 21 points . Rees ’ worst scoring round thus far is round two at Manfeild , where he DNFed a race , but he ’ s expected to delete all 42 points he scored at Manfeild and West then leapfrogs him in the overall series standings .
ALL TO PLAY FOR It ’ s equally dicey for riders with an even slimmer advantage at the top . Riders such as Hamilton ’ s Jesse Stroud ( who leads the Supersport 300 class from Auckland ’ s Cameron Leslie ), Christchurch ’ s Diego Petrucci ( who leads the Supersport 150 class by a scant four points from Auckland ’ s Haydn Fordyce , with Christchurch ’ s Hunter Charlett just another eight points further back ) and Palmerston North ’ s Barry Smith and Stu Dawe ( ahead by just 15 points in the F1 Sidecars class ) still have some work left to do . So , for everybody else , there is simply no excuse not to turn those throttles to the stop . The various class leaders are zipping over the horizon and time running out for title hopefuls giving chase . The first two of six rounds in the series were run in the North Island in early December and , after a short hiatus over the festive period , the series
44 KIWI RIDER