Shane Richardson
particularly impressive, picking himself up from
a scary crash and then throwing his leg over
an unfamiliar bike and taking that to victory.
“I was just minding my own business when I was
struck from behind and the next thing I knew I’d
been flung through the air,” Moir said, explaining
the multi-rider crash at the start of race two.
“It took me a lap or so to get used to Sloan’s
spare bike, but I got faster and faster after that.
The bike was stock standard but was actually so
easy to ride. I was thinking I’d just go out and try
to salvage as many points as I could.
I didn’t believe I could win on a borrowed bike.
“By the end of the race I was doing lap times
as fast as the one I’d set to qualify fastest
and this bike wasn’t even set up for me.”
Moir earned 51 points at round one, thanks to
his back-to-back wins and the bonus point for
topping qualification, and that gave him a nine-
point lead over Mitchell Rees in the F1 standings,
with Frost third, just six points further back.
The series heads to Manfeild for Round Two,
with the public streets of Whanganui, the
famous Cemetery Circuit, awaiting riders
for the final showdown on Boxing Day.
FORMULA 2
Meanwhile, Kawasaki hero Shane Richardson
was untouchable in the Formula Two class at
Taupo, qualifying fastest on the Sunday morning
and then running away to two effortless wins
in the competition proper that afternoon.
86KIWI RIDER
The 22-year-old Wainuiomata joiner has 51
points, thanks to his back-to-back wins and
the bonus point for topping qualification, and
that gave him a 13-point lead over Upper Hutt
Yamaha man Rogan Chandler after round
one, with Orewa’s fellow Kawasaki rider Avalon
Biddle third, just two points further back.
Richardson won the first of two F2 races
at Taupo by more than 12 seconds from
Chandler and then beat Manukau’s fellow
Kawasaki ace Toby Summers across the
finish line by 5.8 seconds in race two.
At the end of the day it was probably more
relief than celebration for Richardson who
has had luck abandon him in past years
and he will now look to consolidating his
advantage at the rounds that follow.
“It was a great weekend. I have been on this bike
a long time now and so I’m pretty comfortable
with it. It’s the same 2016-model Kawasaki ZX-
6R that I raced last season,” said Richardson.
“I was producing lap times only one second
slower than last year and I think that was only
because I had grip issues with the new bumps that
have formed here at Taupo over the past year.
“I came within four points of winning this class in
the series last year (won instead by Whakatane’s
Damon Rees) and crashed out of the competition
while I was leading it at the final round in
Whanganui the year before that (with Glen Eden’s
Daniel Mettam taking the F2 trophy in 2015), so
it’s good to get a solid start this time around.