Race report from Restorace supported Repsol Suzuki team, as written by Avalon Biddle:
For the third weekend in succession the Repsol Suzuki bikes were racing on track, this time in the wild southland climate at Teretonga Raceway, Invercargill. John elected to sit out the superbike class this weekend to focus solely on defending his lead in the 600cc title chase in hope of taking out the NZ championship this year.
A small problem for Avalon in qualifying left her in 11th place for the next day’s race starts. It was clear John would have a fight on his hands come race day as he qualified 2nd with the first 4 bikes all with very close lap times.
The winds were blowing straight from Antarctica on Sunday making it hard for everyone just to stay upright (on the bike and in the pits) let alone put down good lap times. Thankfully, however, the rain held out and in the first race both riders were locked in great battles. Av finished in a fine 7th place, while ‘last of the late brakers’ aka John, managed to sneak by Jeremy Holmes to take the lead at the last corner on the last lap and win the race.
Avalon’s bad run down south was to return in race 2 as she ran off track and crashed on the grass leaving her scoring no points. John was able to sit in with the lead group patiently until he took the lead two laps from the end and never looked back, going on to take two wins from two races! Even more remarkable as this was the first time he has won the second race! He is now 30 points ahead of second place in the championship.
The crew now have a break from the track until the North Island rounds commence in March but the rider’s won’t stop the hard work in the gym and preparing themselves mentally.
A huge thank you to everyone who supports the team, including Repsol, Suzuki NZ, Restorace, Race Supplies, BikeService tools, Holland Collision Repairs, Dymoworx, Metzler, NGK, DID, and WIL Sport Management.
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