The pressure will certainly be on for competitors in this season’s New Zealand Superbike Championships event at Timaru this coming weekend.

The first two of six rounds in the 2023-24 New Zealand Superbike Championships (NZSBK) were run in the North Island in early December and, after a short hiatus over the festive period, the series resumed with round three in Canterbury last weekend.

When the engines were shut off after the racing in Christchurch, it therefore signalled that the PTS Logistics-sponsored NZSBK series had reached its halfway stage.

Riders will arrive this week at Levels International Motor Raceway, near Timaru, for round four and the various class leaders will be well aware that solid performances are essential if they are to break away from their title rivals.

And, for the many riders giving them chase, a top showing at Timaru also vital if they are to set themselves up for a thrilling final charge later in the series.

Several men who would always be considered strong title contenders, riders such a Christchurch’s Dale Finch and Upper Hutt’s Rogan Chandler, will be lamenting their misfortunes in Christchurch last weekend and have both probably kissed goodbye to their respective title hopes, not that it’s in their nature to give up hope.

Meanwhile, other riders such as Christchurch’s Alastair Hoogenboezem, Whanganui’s Luca Durning, Cambridge’s Morgan McLaren-Wood, Auckland’s Cameron Leslie and Auckland’s Hamish Simpson, to name a few, will feel they now have a sniff of a chance of winning races after they each came on strong last weekend. 

So, there is plenty on the line this Saturday and Sunday.

NZSBK series co-ordinator SJ Cavell says he's anticipating more close racing at Timaru weekend.

“We are excited to get to Timaru this weekend and we look forward to more top-drawer racing, as witnessed last weekend at Ruapuna. It's clear now that the cream is starting to rise to the top across all of our premier classes.”

Visiting Australian Ant West was absent from round one at Taupo, but he won the premier Superbike class overall at round two in Feilding and then did the same at round three in Christchurch, so momentum clearly favours him.

Invercargill international Cormac Buchanan comfortably leads the Supersport 600 class after three rounds, but most of the other bike categories are less cut and dried.

Invercargill’s Teretonga Park Raceway circuit will host the penultimate round five in February – included as an integral part of the annual 2024 Burt Munro Challenge bike festival week – before the series then travels north again to wrap up with round six at Hampton Downs, near Huntly, in March.

Points from five of the six rounds are to be counted in this 2023-24 season, with riders able to discard their worst round score, allowing teams and individuals to manage their budgets and choose which rounds they wish to attend and which one they might choose to skip.

DATES FOR 2023-24 NZ MOTORCYCLE ROAD-RACE SEASON:

South Island:

• Round 3, Euromarque Motorsport Park (Ruapuna), Christchurch (includes GP title races), Jan 6 and 7;

• Round 4, Levels International Motor Raceway, near Timaru, Jan 13 and 14;

• Round 5, Burt Munro Challenge, Teretonga Park Raceway, near Invercargill, Feb 9th, 10th and 11th.

North Island:

• Round 6, Hampton Downs, part of MotoFest (includes TT title races), Mar 2nd and 3rd.

-By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com