KIWI RIDER FEBRUARY 2018 VOL.2 | Page 87

Frost had arrived at Timaru with a slender one- point advantage over his chief rivals, Mettam and Whakatane’s Mitch Rees (Honda CBR1000SP1), but the unbeaten performance at Timaru blew his leading margin out to 24 points over Rees, with Mettam slipping slightly to third overall, 15 points further back. Frost’s Suzuki team-mate, Taupo man Scotty Moir, was also impressive at Timaru – the fastest rider on the track in two of the three Superbike class races – although he does not have the points to reflect that. The winner of the pre-nationals Suzuki Series, which wrapped up with him also winning the Robert Holden Memorial feature race in Whanganui on Boxing Day, Moir had another “weekend from Hell”. He crashed out of two more races at Timaru, adding to the two no-points results that had earlier savaged his campaign at round one. With four non-finished out of the six Superbike class races thus far, Moir’s hopes for a national title this season are in tatters. “I’ll still be there for the rest of the season, though, even if just to wave the Suzuki flag,” said a philosophical Moir. The conclusion of racing at Timaru marked the halfway stage to the 2018 New Zealand Superbike Championships and an end to the South Island KIWI RIDER 87