BUGDEN WINS NZ SUPERBIKE TITLE
Australia's Robbie Bugden sealed a thrilling victory in the
2007 New Zealand Superbike Championship at Pukekohe Raceway
on Sunday, the first Australian rider to secure the crown.
Winning the first race of the final round, Bugden needed
to finish the last race of the season ahead of main title
challenger, New Zealand's Andrew Stroud, to seal the series
win.
In a dramatic turn of events, Bugden was leading the final
leg when he and fellow Australian Scott Charlton touched wheels
which ran Bugden off the circuit.
Miraculously Bugden remained upright and rejoined the track
in front of New Zealand's Suzuki hero Stroud where he remained
to the chequered flag, registered a new lap record of 56.698
seconds around the 2.8km Pukekohe circuit.
Piloting his GSX-R1000 Superbike to an historic victory,
the laconic Queenslander was delighted with his triumph.
"This is fantastic - it was a really tough day and I
feel like I've aged about two years across the weekend, but
it was well worth it," Robbie Bugden said.
"I had a strong finish to the 2006 season with Team
Yoshimura Suzuki and the momentum carried through into the
NZ series. I really appreciate Suzuki New Zealand's invitation
to race in the series and all the support they gave me.
"Suzuki is so dominant in New Zealand road racing; GSX-R1000's
filled three of the top five places in this year's Superbike
championship."
The Aussie racer is looking to continue his winning ways
back on home soil as he resumes his charge in the Australian
Superbike competition in the double-header rounds two and
three at Winton Raceway, Victoria this weekend.
Final NZ Superbike Standings: 1. Robbie Bugden (Suzuki
GSX-R1000) 197 points; 2 Andrew Stroud (Suzuki GSX-R1000)
190; 3 Scott Charlton 162; 4 Craig Shirriffs (Suzuki GSX-R1000)
126; 5 Chris Seaton 94.
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