ANDY MCGECHAN/BIKESPORTNZ
UK racer Davey Todd, left, leads Whanganui legend Richie Dibben at the opening round of the Suzuki International Series at Taupō at the weekend.
First-time visitor to New Zealand, Davey Todd, set tongues wagging at the opening round of the Suzuki International Series at Taupō’s International Motorsport Park.
The multi-talented British rider was brought in as a special guest by the series organisers, Cemetery Circuit Ltd, for the event at the weekend.
Todd, riding borrowed machinery, wasted no time getting settled in and delighted the large crowd with his performances on the 1000cc M1 Motorsport BMW superbike and the DS Moto Suzuki RM-Z450 supermoto bike.
Arriving in a new country and riding different bikes would have been impressive regardless of his results, but it seemed business as usual for the 28-year-old from North Yorkshire in England’s north-east.
He qualified third fastest in the Formula One/Superbikes class, behind defending national superbike and Suzuki International Series champion Mitch Rees, from Whakatane, and Auckland-based former Canterbury man Alastair Hoogenboezem, two men both familiar with the Taupō circuit.
Todd was top qualifier in the supermoto class, for highly-modified dirt bikes, beating the man who became the inaugural New Zealand Supermoto champion last year, Whanganui’s Richie Dibben.
To win the national supermoto title, Todd would have to beat friend and reigning champion Dibben to do so, on a Suzuki motorcycle sponsored to him by Dibben.
“I’ve only just arrived in New Zealand, I have great first impressions,” Todd said. “I love it here already.
“There are some crazy things you can experience here that you definitely can’t experience at home, like seeing steam rising from out of the ground.
“I love racing bikes wherever I am, but it’d be really cool to do a few tourist things as well while I’m here. But I’m really just here for the Suzuki International Series and I go home again on January 3.
“I hope I can help Suzuki to a one-two finish in the supermoto champs. I want to acknowledge [Dibben] too for helping me out with the bike. I’ve raced against Richie before in the UK and in Europe and he said ‘I’ll build you a bike and you can race it here’.”
Todd was champion in the Superstock class in the British Superbike Championships in 2022 and earlier this year stepped up to the Superbikes class.
“I’ve had a bit of a disjointed year, but really looking forward to getting back into the superbikes fulltime next season.”
Todd finished his weekend at Taupō ranked sixth overall in the F1/Superbike class and first in the Supermoto class.
The riders all now head to Manfeild in Feilding for round two in the series this weekend.
The series will wrap up on Whanganui’s famous Cemetery Circuit public street environment on Boxing Day.
The Suzuki International Series is again this season being run in conjunction with the New Zealand Superbike Championships, with the first two rounds at Taupō and Manfeild also registered as rounds one and two of that parallel-but-separate six-round series.
The Superbike Championships continues with rounds three, four and five at Christchurch, Timaru and Invercargill, respectively, with the series then wrapping up with round six at Hampton Downs, near Huntly, in March.
Class leaders after round one: Whakatane’s Mitch Rees (F1/Superbike class); Invercargill’s Cormac Buchanan (F2/Supersport 600 class); Taupō’s Karl Hooper (F3/Pro Twins); Papakura’s Craig Coulam (Formula Sport, Senior); Whanganui’s Jeff Croot (Formula Sport, Junior); Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud (Supersport 300); Hamilton’s Nathan Finlay (GIXXER 150); Diego Petrucci (Supersport 150); Hastings’ Gian Louie (Post Classics, Pre-89, Senior); Christchurch’s Jordan Leslie (Post Classics, Pre-89, Junior); Invercargill’s Jon Rawcliffe (Post Classics, Pre-95, Senior); Christchurch’s Jordan Leslie (Post Classics, Pre-95, Junior); Britain’s Davey Todd (Supermoto); Auckland’s Adam Unsworth and Bryce Rose (F1 Sidecars); Whanganui’s Peter and Lucy Dowman (F2 Sidecars).
