The overseas contingent is on its way as the 2024 New Zealand Suzuki International Series gets ready to kick off in Taupo this weekend.
The popular annual three-round Suzuki International Series, including the world-renowned Cemetery Circuit street race event in Whanganui on Boxing Day, kicks off this busiest time of the year for New Zealand's elite motorcycle road-racers and again this year there will be top stars from overseas lining up as well.
The opening round at the Taupo International Motorsport Park this Saturday and Sunday, December 7-8, will be sure to get the juices flowing with Isle of Man TT race stars a sure highlight among the many superior riders entered.
The Suzuki International Series has become such an iconic competition in this part of the world that it typically brings plenty of international focus and when British heroes Peter Hickman and Davey Todd, plus German frontrunner Wolfgang Schuster, indicated their keenness to compete here this summer, Suzuki International Series organiser Allan ‘Flea’ Willacy was naturally thrilled to welcome them.
French rider Timothee Monot is also entered into the Suzuki International Series for the first time this year, albeit only for the Cemetery Circuit street racing segment of the series.
Despite their obvious pedigree, there is no guarantee either that these international visitors will run away with anything when lined up against the heart and soul of Kiwi talent, with riders such as Whakatane father-and-son duo Tony and Mitch Rees, Christchurch pair Alastair Hoogenboezem and Dale Finch, Auckland’s Dave Sharp, Silverstream’s Rogan Chandler, Taupo’s Scott Moir, Whanganui twosome Luca Durning and Richie Dibben, to name just a few, always a threat.
Round two of the Suzuki International Series is set for Manfeild, on the outskirts of Feilding on December 14-15, just a week after this weekend’s opener, and of course the Whanganui street fight finale, less than two weeks after Manfeild, remains the jewel in the crown for the series.
The foundations for a fruitful Suzuki International Series campaign will have had to be sown at round one in Taupo and round two at Manfeild, because everything will go on the line on the public streets of Whanganui on Boxing Day.
Motorcycle road-racing in New Zealand is always edge-of-the-seat excitement and this year’s edition will perhaps be an adrenaline rush like never before.
DATES FOR 2024 SUZUKI INTERNATIONAL SERIES:
• Round 1, Taupo, Dec 7th and 8th;
• Round 2, Manfeild, Feilding, Dec 14th and 15th;
• Round 3, Whanganui's Cemetery Circuit, Dec 26th.
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com