    |
 |
|
|
|
MNZ - Press Release:
TITLES TO STROUD AND HARRIS
THE BATTLE FOR THE MINORS GOES TO MANFIELD
Andrew Stroud and Shaun Harris have annexed their respective National Titles with one round to go. The main interest in the Motorcycle Trader and News Group One finale at Manfield will centre on the minor placings where competition is tense in both classes.
In the car/bike meeting at Taupo Stroud had a win and a second in the Suzuki NZ Production Superbike Series to add another title to his treasury. With an 84-point lead and only 50 points to be allocated next weekend he can sleep easy this week. Ray Clee (Auckland) and Brian Bernard (Wanganui) will have two races to decide the minors after Bernard made ground on Clee - he beat Stroud in the first race at the weekend. The series sponsor, Suzuki NZ is guaranteed to have their mark in all three-podium places.
The wildcard performance came from Dean Fulton (Tauranga) a one-time NZ champion, who has been the swinger on sidecars for most of the summer. Fulton, ranked 16th was second to Stroud in the day’s final race by a margin of only .39 of a second.
Completing the sports sponsorship nirvana is Shaun Harris’s win in the Blue Wing Honda 600 Sports Production Series on a Honda. Harris, still suffering the effects of a fall at the Britten Memorial a week earlier, calculated the points needed to win the series and then withdrew in favour of his welfare. Dennis Charlett (Palmerston North) won both points races yesterday, which creates another fascinating contest for the minors next weekend. Charlett is only 20 points adrift of Craig Shirriffs (Palmerston North) and is in a rich vein of form heading into a final round that Shaun Harris may not contest.
Harris has completed a clean sweep of the titles, he collected the GP, the TT and the series.
The performance of the Taranaki youngster, Hayden Fitzgerald sent a message to Stroud and Harris that they are only renting space for the next generation. The 19 year old is a member of MNZ’s elite programme. He could finish fourth in the national series in his first year in the major league.
Points with one round to go
Production Superbikes.
Stroud 315,
Clee 231,
Bernard 203,
Charlett 138.
600 Sports Production.
Harris 278.5,
Shirriffs 217,
Charlett 197,
Fitzgerald 123.5
